The Book of Jane
by ArchivistGardener
Summary: Jennifer Singleton is a character straight from an Austen novel, specifically Pride and Prejudice. The only thing is, she isn't Elizabeth. She's Jane. Modern P&P about Jane and her romance: pale next to Lizzie's but thrilling to her... ABANDONED. Currently being reworked.
1. A Dear, Sweet Girl

It has been said more than once but it was most notably stated by Caroline Bingley: Jane Bennet is a "dear, sweet girl." Jennifer Singleton happened to feel that, behind her back, she was thought of in much the same way. When her class had read _Pride and Prejudice _in English, she was sweet Jane's sole defender against the mob.

"Honestly! They can't all be Elizabeths," she later told Evelyn, her best friend and younger sister. Evee had agreed but remained firm in her own love of that utterly capable heroine.

It wasn't that Jennifer didn't like Elizabeth – she thoroughly enjoyed the younger Miss Bennet's confusing, romantic, and somewhat epic courtship with Mr. Darcy. Sometimes, however, she loved Jane's character all the more for its sweet devotion when compared with Elizabeth's almost willful (though entirely understandable) mistakes.

Perhaps Jennifer's staunch defense arose from those gossipy remarks about her and her favorite sibling which were so like arguments constantly held over Jane and Elizabeth's virtues. They claimed Jennifer pretty and amiable but nothing next to Evee's vivacity and out-going spirit. Jennifer was constantly in agony over whether she should be jealous or not. In the end, she loved her sister all the more for being well liked and smiled at everyone she passed in the hallway.

* * *

"Ben!" Mrs. Singleton burst into the airy living room, which was strewn with copies of _Cosmopolitan _and _People_ where two of the Singleton triplets lounged. Kelsii and Julia looked up from the glossy pages to survey their plump but fashionable mother. "Oh girls, you will not believe the news I have just had from Mrs. Johnson! Be-en!" At the moment Jennifer and Evee entered the room, Evee holding a soccer ball under her arm. Jennifer was certainly the prettiest with her long blonde hair pulled back in a bun and smiling blue eyes. Evee, on the other hand, had curly brown hair and hazel eyes, which were more often than not laughing at a joke no one else knew. "Have either of you seen your dad at all this afternoon?" Jennifer said that he had been in his computer room earlier, and Myra Singleton fluttered her newly manicured nails excitedly and sailed out of the room.

"I wonder why she is so excited," Evee said as she gently dropped the ball on the floor before picking up a page torn from _Cosmopolitan_ by one of the younger girls. "Oh, look at this Jen. 'How to enjoy---'"

"Give that back!" Kelsii snatched the page back from Evee. "I don't know why you think all of this stuff is so funny. It's _serious_."

"I have been duly chastised." Evee snatched up her book and proceeded to bury her nose in it while Kelsii and Julia exchanged a look as if asking each other if they had been insulted or not. Jennifer smothered a smile; sometimes it really was hard work to keep up with Evee's quick wit, but her two sisters certainly didn't stand a chance. They had already been brain-washed within an inch of their lives in ninth grade while learning to be "fresh," whatever that meant. Of course, she never said anything to them about it. She preferred to keep those thoughts to herself and be nice to her sisters the rest of the time. As far as Kelsii and Julia were concerned, Jen was okay because she was a senior and most everyone knew who she was and liked her even if she wasn't popular to the extreme. Evee on the other hand, while well liked by her class and known by over half the student body, was a hopeless case that they should disassociate themselves from. She did not travel in their crowd and half the time they didn't understand her.

Jen plopped herself down beside Evee on the couch and closed her eyes before stretching luxuriously. Evee set aside her novel, an excellent Nicholas Sparks work Jen had recommended. "Are you finished with it already?"

"Yes, and I really loved that he turned out great." Evee put _A Walk to Remember _on the side table. "But of course, you knew all along that he was good inside, just like she did." Jen smiled. She had had similar thoughts while reading it though she thought this was a rather nice way of viewing things. Don't believe the worst in a character, or a person for that matter. Just wait for them to get better; there is always a good side. "Oh, Jennifer, you are so sweet!" Evee lunged onto Jennifer to engulf her in a bear hug that soon turned into a tickle fight. Amidst the shrieks of laughter, Myra Singleton once again entered the room, accompanied this time by her husband and the final triplet, Heather, a rather doleful looking creature. The girls' mother had evidently just gotten hold of her evasive spouse.

"Dear, you will never believe what has happened." Ben Singleton rolled his eyes at Evee who smiled in sympathy; she was the closest among them to their father. "The old Shuford House has been let to a very rich family."

"I would assume, Myra, that anyone who could rent the Shuford home would be very rich indeed," was Mr. Singleton's retort.

"It is Chad Shelton and his two sisters and his friend!"

"Chad who? And why exactly should I care apart from neighborly courtesy?"

"Chad Shelton! He's the son of that politician who was always gadding on about rights and liberties. I never thought much of him but he was a famous man and now his son is to be our neighbor!" At this degrading statement about "that politician," Evee rolled her own eyes at Jen who smiled knowingly. Their mom was not educated in any current events past the gossip and the small social hierarchy of her own town. "You must go and visit them Ben!"

"And why must I?"

"Why don't you know it would be quite a thing for one of our girls if he was to like one of them?"

"They are in high school yet!"

"I don't propose he marry them now, silly. But he may very well come to like one of them, especially Jennifer. She is so pretty." This was one of those few things Jen could fault her mother for: she talked about her like she wasn't there. On this note Mr. Singleton grimaced at his wife and remarked with some asperity that he would not visit Chad Shelton and that they would just have to wait to make their matches later. Mrs. Singleton was left moping while Heather recited a text that related some moral which would fit the situation. Jennifer and Evee exchanged meaningful looks as they left the room.

"I hope Mom isn't too upset," Jen said.

"Don't worry, Jen. You know Mom will feel fine as soon as Chad gets a good look at you. All her troubles will be washed away. After all it is left to you to raise our social standing in the world." Evee declared this last line with mock severity as she gave Jen a one-arm squeeze. Jen laughed and smiled while wondering just what Chad Shelton was like.


	2. Great Expectations

The days of summer began to run together; they would not have been distinguishable at all for Jennifer if it had not been for her mom's salon days and Evee's weekly visits to Annie, a faithful friend of Evee's since elementary school.

Myra Singleton took a trip to the salon at least once a week, if not more. This conscious effort was not only for the sake of good nails and hair but also for that healthy dose of gossip she was addicted to; Evee often said that if it had been a bar their mom visited so regularly, she would have already been enlisted in Alcoholics Anonymous. All sorts of talk circulated in that whirring, buzzing, and splashing environment that Myra frequented, and lately, the most entertaining and all-encompassing news was the arrival of the illustrious Sheltons. Everything from Chad Shelton's rating on the list of sexiest men (he had come up just after Patrick Dempsey) to his sister's ability to throw a party (it was legendary in New York and London) was discussed. Jen knew all of this because her mom thought it necessary to discuss it with her after she had returned from being freshened up. She was constantly subjected to what Mrs. Lynn had said about Chad's wardrobe and what Chad's eligibility was considered to be by Mrs. Johnson. But what was said was never said in good humor.

"Mrs. Daniels is such a interfering little – "

"Mom!"

"Well, she is! She knows very well I am distraught over your dad's refusal to visit the Sheltons and that I don't want to hear about them." Jennifer groaned inwardly but kept her eyes firmly on the laptop screen as she filled out yet another college application. Her mom _would_ rant and rave about someone telling her something she both wanted to and didn't want to hear. She really was addicted to gossip! Again Jennifer refocused her attention on the screen and on her mom. "…kept going on and on about it. I promise you, that manicurist should have painted her nails red to match her horns and tail!" Mrs. Singleton did not, however, elaborate on what "it" was and Jen knew that she wanted her daughter to ask. She knew this because Myra Singleton kept throwing furtive glances at her while she rambled on about "it."

_It's undoubtedly something to do with Chad Shelton_, Jen thought glumly to herself as she clicked away at the keyboard. _This is so frustrating_. _I've never even seen him! I've no idea what he looks like, if he's even cute! He could be one of those dudes that all the moms think is hot but really isn't to girls like me. Scary thought… She's already planned our lives together and I'm stuck with a grease ball or a "nice looking young man." Well, I guess not…he did rate next to Patrick Dempsey and he _is_ sort of cute._ Jen sighed.

"Is everything okay, sweetie?" Mrs. Singleton looked rather as though she expected Jen to answer that she just felt so overwhelmed – she just couldn't live without Chad Shelton! Or better yet, that she wouldn't be able to go on existing unless she knew what "it" was. Her blue eyes, which were very searching and predatory at the moment, scanned Jen's face. "I know all of this gossip is tough, but it will pass. They are all just jealous that their daughters aren't as gorgeous as you are." Jen blushed furiously and looked back at the application to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill without actually seeing it. "Mrs. Lynn's only claim is that her husband has already met Chad. It was some political thing in Washington years ago," she continued with the air of bittersweet achievement at Mrs. Lynn's expense. "And Mrs. Johnson! Well, her two girls are nothing to you for all they are in college already. Such lank hair! I think it runs in the family, honestly. As for Mrs. Daniels," Jen waited with baited breath, "she has just never gotten over her Lauren running away with that bouncer." She released it. "Of course, I know I can depend on you Jen. You're so beautiful and so sweet. Everybody loves you. I am sure Chad Shelton will too." After declaring this assertion, Myra Singleton picked up the remote and clicked on the TV. Evidently, Jen wasn't going to hear anymore about "it" at the moment.

"Thanks, Mom," Jen said and continued, not entirely untruthfully, "I'm just thinking about getting all my college apps done. They're so time-consuming." _Not to mention the draining financially_, she finished ruefully. But money matters were sensitive subjects in the Singleton household, especially to Myra Singleton. She never even considered Jennifer's applying for scholarships, and if she did, she did not take it seriously. There would be another venue. Scholarships seemed degrading to her – "it's just like charity!"

"Don't worry, everything will turn out fine." Her tone had softened considerably although her eyes were still glued to the television, and Jen knew that her mom meant what she said. She just didn't mean it in the same way Jennifer hoped.

* * *

Dinner that night was noisy. They were having a home-cooked meal for a change, courtesy of Jen and Evee as it was their turn to do dinner. Whenever it was Kelsii and Julia's, take-out or a restaurant was quickly suggested; Heather's forays into the kitchen usually resulted in tofu or vegetarian entrees. While these culinary practices for the sisters were not overly frequent, they were often enough for Ben Singleton to develop a dislike of some of a few repeated courses.

"Well girls, I must say this looks edible," Mr. Singleton said with a twinkling eye. "Of course, so did that grease-filled Big Mac and the burned tofu." Kelsii protested loudly at this remark and Heather shifted in her seat only to pipe up when Kelsii had subsided to fume.

"All roads are marked with potholes, and all journeys are filled with dark times, Father," Heather pronounced clearly and firmly as Julia giggled into her napkin.

"And all fathers must endure a daughter's, if not more than one's, mistakes."

"Play nicely, Dad," Evee warned as she set the lasagna in front of Ben Singleton. She too was hiding laughter.

"Besides, you know that burned tofu wasn't Heather's fault," Jen added. "It was the burner's. It wasn't working properly."

"Thank you, Jennifer. I forgot. For your sake and Evee's I will attempt keep the sarcasm at a minimum." There was nothing, however, to criticize on the table, with the exception perhaps of the brussel sprouts in butter sauce that only Heather touched – even Jane and Evee weren't particularly fond of the vegetable but they knew Heather loved it. Lasagna, lima beans, and salad were passed with gusto and much appreciation and even Mrs. Singleton was reduced to only a few random comments about her day. It was her mentioning Mrs. Daniels, whom she said she said she had seen again in Dillard's, which brought Kelsii and Julia to life.

"We saw her too, Mom! We saw her too! Didn't we Julia?" Kelsii shifted in her seat to look at Julia.

"Yep," Julia confirmed ecstatically. "But we didn't see her in Dillard's! We saw her in Macy's and she told us---"

"She said that Chad Shelton is going to be at the party on Friday," Kelsii cut across her sister. "And she also said that he is bringing his good friend and his sisters."

"No she didn't," Julia corrected. "She said he was bringing a bunch of his college friends."

Kelsii tsk-ed, annoyed at Julia. "No-ooo. Mrs. Daniel's clearly stated that Chad was going to bring his special college friend _and _his sisters." The bickering continued for several seconds before their mother shouted over both of them.

"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ANY MORE ABOUT STUPID CHAD SHELTON!!!!"

"That's a shame, Myra," Ben Singleton remarked idly before took a drink of water. "If I had known I would not have gone over to meet him today." He dropped this information like a bomb but placidly kept on eating. Evee was laughing softly as she picked up her glass of water to distract herself. Jennifer looked at her mom waiting for the reaction that was sure to be priceless.

"You didn't…"

"I did – very nice guy. We had an interesting discussion about business. Interesting man." And Mr. Singleton lapsed into silence. The quiet lasted only two seconds.

"Oh girls! Isn't he just an excellent dad! Oh isn't he!" Myra jumped up from her chair and flew to her husband whereupon she kissed him in flurried motions. Kelsii and Julia began chatting excitedly right away, and Jennifer and Evee laughed outright. Heather sniffed rather pompously and speared a brussel sprout with vehemence.

"Now you have a chance, Jen!" Myra Singleton exclaimed this triumphantly. "Of course you always did, but now our foot is in the door!" Jennifer half expected her mother to laugh evilly next. Instead, she began to plan just what each of her daughters would wear on Friday – after all it was only two days away!

Jen got up and gathered as many plates as she could carry before retreating into the kitchen. Evee soon followed. Having made their escape, they loaded the dishwasher. The only sounds in the kitchen were the muffled conversation from the other room and the clinking of plates before Evee spoke up. "Well, Mom went and got it fixed in her head that you're going to get together with Chad. For your sake, I hope he's really cute. But you know Jen, if you don't like him, don't date him. Mom will live if you don't even if she says she won't."

"Thanks," Jennifer said dryly before smiling at her sister. Sometimes, Evee understood her so well. "It's not like we really need the connection anyways."

"Yes, but poor Mom. She just has her heart set on rising in the world. Or do I mean falling?" Evee frowned confusedly in mock exaggeration, and the two sisters laughed.

"Be fair Evee, Mom's just…Mom." Jane smiled, and Evee, in return. The statement made perfect sense to them. "Sometimes I think she thinks that my getting together with someone rich will fix…everything. I guess she's sort of right."

"Yes, I suppose so," Evee propped her chin on her hand as if thinking but immediately brightened. "And since you are definitely the most gorgeous, we'll have to depend on you to fix everything. But don't worry Jenni! I have faith in you, and so does Mom though it isn't the same."

"I hope when I date someone though that I'm doing it because I want to be with them for a better reason than money. I want to date someone because they like me, I like them, and I like who I am with them." Both the sisters were silent for a moment before Jennifer spoke again in a somewhat lighter voice. "What about you, sis?"

"Me? Well, of course I'm going to be the little, old, cranky, nosy cat lady when I get out of school. I'll have to work at the persona for a while but I'm sure I'll get it right in no time. It is a place in society of the highest esteem!" They collapsed laughing this time and when the fun finally subsided Jen was definitely cheered up. She shrugged off the non-existent burden Myra Singleton had placed on her shoulders, and compared outfit ideas with Evee as the left the kitchen. Coming from the other room, voices were still distinguishable and the last thing that they heard as they ran up the stairs was Heather's serious voice proclaiming that she never thought much of parties.

**Author's Note: Please Review. I would really just like to hear from you if you read my story so far. I'd love it if you just told me that you did read it!**


	3. Googled

**If you were in **_**any**_** doubt, I do credit Jane Austen's wonderful creativity for this work. I really love her/ her work and so I would never steal from her. Ok, moving on…**

Thursday afternoon found the Singleton females at the mall. Even Heather had come along at Myra's insistence; all her daughters were going to be at that party. It was simply the sociable thing to do, and Myra was determined to be sociable if nothing else. Besides, Chad Singleton would be there. Thus, she drove her brood to the mall.

If Jen had had her own way, she would have driven herself and Evee there and the two of them would browse and shop at their leisure. This plan, however, did not suit her mother, who wanted to oversee Jennifer's preparations personally. The party wasn't formal; it was just a neighborhood get together where good eating and dancing would ensue. In Jen's mind, her mom was blowing the whole thing out of proportion. When Myra started talking about it, Jen's hands started sweating from nervousness that she wouldn't have felt otherwise: she had been to many parties like the anticipated one of Friday. But like Evee said, their mom had gone and gotten her hopes up. In a way, Jen had too, though a little differently. When she wasn't tense about the party, she was excited and expectant. What would she find there? Or rather, _who_ would she _meet_ there? Just exactly who was the person that belonged to the frequently mention name, Chad Shelton? She really hated to admit it (she would never tell her mom), but Jennifer had actually googled Chad Shelton. Evee had caught her at it that morning.

* * *

"Hey girl, you almost ready to go? Mom's starting to become a bit of a nightmare." Evee slouched onto the beanbag beside Jen's desk and mimicked their mom. "Hurry girls, hurry up! If we don't get to Dillard's before Vera Richards does, her daughters will have cleaned out everything! Pacey pacey, chop chop!" 

Automatically, Jen responded, "that's not very nice, hon," as she scanned the page she had pulled up on Chad Shelton – she had gotten 20,660,031 hits!

"I know, but you have to admit I do a great job." Evee stretched and scrunched herself lower in the seat. "And you know it's true. I'm not making stuff up to be cruel. I'm just telling it like it is." Jennifer made an mm-hmm sound and scrolled down the list. "What are you doing anyway?" Jennifer made to shut the laptop but Evee had sprung from her position on the floor and held it open. "You googled him! This is so cool, Jen!" Evee smiled at her sister. Jen felt slightly relieved; a little part of her had expected Evee to laugh at her. She should have known Evee would understand. "So what does this say…oh scandal, skip that – don't worry, it's some other dude that's related to him," Evee said hurriedly to assure Jennifer. "Mmm, here's a good one. Looks like he's really into charity. I guess he can afford to do that can't he."

"I suppose so," Jen replied blankly. She felt slightly pleased that he was charitable, which was of course absurd since she didn't know him…_yet_. "What else does it say since you're going to read them off anyhow?" Jennifer's tone wasn't biting, just flippant in good fun. Evee grinned wickedly.

"Well, let's see…" She pressed the down arrow with a flourish. Before they could examine the google results any further, however, their mom's voice drifted up the stairs, accompanied by the sounds of her hurried footfalls. Just as the door swung open into the sun-filled room, Jen snapped the laptop shut.

"What have you girls been doing?" Myra didn't really wait for an answer before she continued, "We really need to get going. The Richards are simply disastrous when let loose at the mall. They could burn holes in credit cards for sure. Let's go." With this last exasperated command, Myra Singleton twirled out of the room. Evee and Jen exchanged amused glances before getting up and following.

"Coming, Mom," Jennifer called as she and Evee pounded down the stairs.

* * *

In the end, the excursion to mall satisfied everyone. Heather was not forced to purchase anything and Jen had fulfilled her mom's requirements by buying a simple, low slung black skirt. While Evee, asserting she already had something picked out at home, imitated Heather's actions, Kelsii had insisted on having a new outfit. Julia, impressionable and loyal Kelsii, required the same. Mrs. Singleton was happy to oblige. Jennifer might be the prettiest of the bunch, but Kelsii was Myra's all around favorite. This was probably because Kelsii reminded Myra so much of herself at that age – flighty, material, silly. Jennifer was wont to tell Evee that she thought those qualities weren't all together bad in themselves. Evee was likely to agree and then counter, "but they aren't just by themselves! They're in Mom and Kelsii!" The result was distinctly and patently annoying. So Kelsii and Julia had their way and arrived home with matching halter dresses. 

That night, Jen was listening to music and reviewing her google hits on Chad Shelton. "Calling You" by Blue October had just come up and she sang along dreamily as she fantasized. Chad really didn't look that bad. He had some really cute red hair; well, ok, so it was more blonde than red, but it was still cute. Plus he had those clear blue eyes and that sort of lopsided smile. She really shouldn't be thinking like this. It really was her mom's department wasn't it? Fantasizing about the future. Or at least, her mom had a monopoly on it in Singleton household.

Jennifer clicked on one of the pictures to enlarge it. She fervently hoped that the girl who was hanging on his arm in the picture was his sister and not his girlfriend. Her hair was blonde like Jen's but feathery light and seemingly perfect. "No messy buns for her," Jen muttered to herself. Even if she was a girlfriend she couldn't be current, otherwise he wouldn't be considered eligible by the matrons of the town. _Small comfort_, she thought. If the blonde bombshell, who looked rather anorexic with those high cheekbones, was a past girlfriend, it would be even harder to make an impression to rival such a gorgeous old flame. _Oh well, we'll just find out tomorrow night won't we._

* * *

Jen's palms were amazingly sweaty. Had she remembered to wear deodorant? Of course she had…hadn't she? She couldn't quite remember. She would just try not to remember. Her mind's antics were making her nervous to the point of exhaustion. She would not, however, let it show. She meant to have fun and that was that; it did not matter whether or not she saw Chad Singleton. It didn't even matter if he liked her or not. She repeated this mantra to herself many times on the way to the party. 

Jennifer was wearing her new black skirt and her white tube top with a short periwinkle cardigan shirt. When Myra saw her before they left the house she almost had an apoplexy because she thought Jen was under-dressing. When Jen had refused to change, her mom remedied the situation by turning her hair into a mass of blond curls and spritzing the whole thing with glitter hair spray. Jen wasn't mortified but she felt twinkly and overdone. She longed to run her fingers through her hair to rid it of its stiff look. As soon as the Singletons reached the Lynn's house, Evee pulled Jen inside and ran upstairs were she met Annie. "Bathroom," Evee shot at Annie while pointing at Jennifer. Annie smiled before replying.

"It's empty, Mom's already downstairs." With these magic words, Evee marched Jennifer into the bathroom and rummaged around in the drawer looking for a comb.

"It isn't that bad, Evee," Jennifer laughed as she accepted the comb. "But thanks anyway."

"No problem," Evee chirped. "I knew you were just itching to change it. I like your hair curly but not the way she does it. Her style makes you look like the 80s met the 50s on top of your head." Jen flipped her hair and dragged the comb through it and then flipped it back before shaking it out and examining it.

"I need a clip." Evee rummaged in her purse this time. "I meant borrow one of Annie's."

"Well, I anticipated the need ahead of time, and Annie doesn't have very many clamps that would go with your hair, plus hers are all too small for you." Evee handed Jen a rhinestone banana clip and some hair pins. Efficiently, Jen gathered her hair into the clip and twirled it up before securing it. Done, she turned to Evee for inspection. Her sibling pursed her lips and turned her head to the side before removing a pin and jerking out a section of hair to hang out of the twist in a solitary curl. "Softer," she explained as she put the remaining pins back in her purse. "Okay, don't be nervous, Jen, just be yourself."

"I'm fine," Jennifer said. "I'm a little nervous but I'm fine."

"I know. Maybe I should be telling Mom that though and not you."

"Definitely," Jen agreed. "Ok, girl, let's go have fun."

"With pleasure," Evee said with a broad grin. Jen cocked an eyebrow as they descended the stairs again. "Don't worry I'm going to behave myself. I always do you know. I'm going to dance and have fun and have a good laugh will all my school friends that I won't see for another week or so and then I'll go home. You on the other hand will be chatting with the town's best catch and pleasing Mom."

"Oh don't say it like that," Jen said as she blushed a little. "It sounds so predatory and I dunno…awful when you put it that way."

"I know. I'm sorry Jen. I'm sorry Mom always does this to you."

"Jennifer! Evelyn! There you girls are! Come and meet our new neighbors!" Evee groaned and looked meaningfully at Jen who tried to hide her impulsive grin: Evee hated it when their mom used her full name – she said it made her feel like a great big old prune. Myra was waiting farther down the hall with the triplets but Jen couldn't see the Sheltons and the new neighbors were undoubtedly the Sheltons – who else would they be? Jen and Evee approached. "These are my two oldest daughters: Jennifer and Evelyn," Myra pointed as she introduced them. "Jen, Evee, this is Chad Shelton, his sisters Caroline and Louisa, Louisa's husband David Hurst, and Chad's friend Will Darcy."

Jennifer had eyes only for Chad Shelton. His pictures definitely did not do him justice. He wasn't hot exactly – his grin was a bit too big and silly for that – but he was definitely close to it. The best part about it was that he was grinning at her. And it wasn't a leering sort of smile either. It was just a smile that said, "I like you." Jen snapped back as she shook hands with Caroline – who was the girl in the google image – and the others. She hoped she hadn't been staring as stupidly as she had felt. Evee was already asking Chad what exactly it was that he was doing at the college. But before he could answer his sister did.

"Oh Chad!" She gave a tinkling laugh. "He's always doing some charitable work or another. I've simply lost count." She put her hand on Will's arm. Were they a couple? "We go to all these backwater places with Chad for the good works he wants to do. He just gets an idea and he does it." Evee looked a little bit peeved by this interruption. Chad, however, merely smiled at Caroline before turning back to Evee to answer.

"Oh, I'm working on contracting a new library. I'm really into architecture. I'm thinking about getting my masters in architectural design when all's said and done. But until recently I haven't had the time." Unfortunately, Heather saw this as an opportunity to interject one of her random moral concepts.

"Ozymandius told everyone around him to look on his works and despair but now they are just dust. That's where his vanity took him." Caroline looked thunderstruck and Jen was turning red. Chad only laughed good-naturedly.

"Yeah! But I'm not telling everyone to look at what I've done. I just do it to…well, to get it done. I remember that poem by the way. Read it once in high school. By Shelley isn't it? Yeah, that's the only thing I remember about him though. I was never much of a student but I had a great English 4 teacher." He smiled at Jen, who breathed a sigh of relief and mentally gave him a point for overlooking Heather's self-righteousness. They were all quiet for minute before Myra attacked in full force.

"Do you like to dance, Chad?" Her eyes flicked not so subtly to Jennifer.

"Sure. Will you dance with me Jennifer?"

"She'd love to," Myra replied and all but thrust Jen into Chad's arms. He grabbed her hand and they wound their way onto the dance floor. As they danced, Jen felt amazingly awkward. Everyone was staring, pointing, whispering. Well, maybe they weren't whispering – the popular dance music was loud enough that you would have to speak fairly loudly to be heard over the din. She wondered just what Chad thought of her and her family. He had to think they were crazy. Evee would have come up with better adjectives, but Jen preferred not to think of all the things that could be attributed to her mom's and Heather's behavior just then. Interestingly enough, the only thing that didn't feel awkward was dancing with Chad. She was perfectly at ease even though she didn't really know him. Best of all he was being a perfect gentleman about the whole thing – as much as a guy can be in that situation anyway. When the song stopped he asked her if she wanted a drink. She nodded and followed him out of the now jumping crowd.

"Just a water, thanks," she said when they came to a couple of chairs, and she sat down. He came back a couple of minutes later with two water bottles. At first he didn't say anything but he continued to sit with her all the same. She really did like how he looked. She even liked the way his adam's apple bobbed up and down when he took a drink. Okay that was a little weird but still. "So," she began. He looked up and capped his water before turning his gaze back to her full force. She found the whole process rather chivalrous. "How do you decide what colleges you are going to help out and stuff? I mean we all know that it needs a new library but how do find out stuff like that? I mean you can't just google it." He laughed.

"I actually have before," he returned as he crooked one leg up on his seat.

"Don't joke with me," Jen threw back. "I'll take you seriously. And then when you're serious, I'll never believe you." Chad laughed again. It was a pleasant laugh; it made him sound like he was actually having fun.

"That's too bad. I am a big joker. Not like bad pranks, though," he assured her. "just fun and sarcasm and all that. And I actually did use google when I did my first project." Jen looked at him skeptically. "Not on purpose, it was more of an accident, ok?" He looked so worried that she laughed at his expression.

From there, the evening went smoothly. Chad told Jennifer some about his projects; they danced again, and he danced once with Evee when Jen remarked that she wasn't. She also saw him talk once with his friend, Will, right before she noticed Annie and Evee laughing heartily over a joke – she would have to find out what it was later. She only had to wait till the ride home, however, when Myra Singleton was recapping the whole evening for her own personal benefit.

"Chad Shelton seemed to cling to you, Jennifer," she said, very much pleased with herself as if she had been the object of Chad's attention. "As for Will Darcy, while he may be richer and more famous than Chad, he's certainly nothing to him as a man." She turned fully in her seat to face her husband. "He slighted Evee, you know. Wouldn't dance with her or even stand up with her." Evee explained this insult of insults to Jen with a throaty laugh ("he said I wasn't good looking enough to even so much as tempt him").

"Slighted Evee did he?" Ben replied noncommittally as he winked at the supposedly affronted party. Evee was assuring Myra that she wouldn't dance with Will Darcy another time anyway, but Jennifer was far and away already dreaming about that goofy smile which belong to a very nice guy she had just recently met.

**Please review, per someone's advice I have enabled anonymous reviews. Please tell me what you think so far. I hope I'm doing these beloved characters justice.**


	4. Let it Rain

**Thanks for all of the faithful reviewers so far, I hope I'm taking your advice…**

"Definitely wear the white tube top, Jenni. You look like you have absolutely no belly in it."

"And of course, Julia does not mean that you look pregnant the rest of the time," Evee rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"She can't wear the tube top, honey," Kelsii said, ignoring her elder sibling's comment and yanking the shirt out of Julia's hands. "She wore it last time she saw him."

"Ri-ight…" Julia gave Kelsii a funny little thumbs up gesture. Evee rolled her eyes again.

"Look guys, relax," Jen attempted to interject.

"Pride cometh before a fall…" Heather shouted from her room across the hallway. 

"This is NOT pride, Heather," Kelsii shouted back. "This is called getting our sister ready for her _amazingly_ hot date!"

"I swear she is obsessed with pride," Julia tsk-ed and blew her bangs out of her eyes. 

"Which is nothing like being obsessed with Brad Pitt, is it?" Evee smirked.

"Get out of it, Evee," Julia countered. "Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are completely yesterday." Kelsii snapped her fingers in Julia's face.

"Focus, girlfriend. We need to pick out Jenni's outfit."

"Oh, yeah." The two girls pounced on Jen and dragged her in front of the full-length mirror attached to the back of the door before pulling all of her clothes out of her closet. 

"Hey, Kelsii, I just hung all of those up!" 

"So, we'll hang 'em back up, won't we Julia?" Julia made an assenting noise as she held a lacey top up to Jen's chest. This probably meant that they wouldn't anyway. "Oh, Julia! Stop! That dress looks perfect!" Julia looked back at the black, gauzy, high necked thing. Kelsii gave a little squeal and rummaged through the pile of skirts excitedly. Finally she emerged with the black under slip to go with it and thrust it at Jen. "Change. Now." Kelsii pointed Jen towards the bathroom down the hall. Jen huffed and stomped out of the room; while she rather resented Kelsii's interference, she had to admit she had great taste in clothes even if she wasn't that clever. 

"And don't you dare take the bathroom, Heather," Julia called as she and Kelsii tossed Jennifer's clothes back in her closet. 

"Wouldn't dream of it," Heather yelled back sarcastically. Jen shut the bathroom door to muffle all the noise her sisters were making. Quickly, she pulled off her homecoming T-shirt from last year and her denim skirt. Slithering into the slip and gauzy dress, she felt herself radiating pleasure – she was going to Chad Shelton's house and she looked great. Well, maybe just okay, her hair was a complete mess still. Otherwise, she thought she looked pretty good. The dress fell to her knees and her black sandal flats completed the ensemble. She opened the door a crack and saw Evee waiting outside; she looked extremely bored as she slouched on the floor drumming her fingers against the wall. 

"Psst," Jen beckoned to Evee who promptly bounded into the small bathroom. As much as Jen loved her other sisters, she really wanted just Evee's advice first. "How do I look?"

"Do you really have to ask that?" Evee hopped onto the counter. "You know you look just fine Jen. Don't go fishing for compliments." Jen opened her mouth to retort. "Oh, I'm just joking, honey. I know you would never do that. You're too good. Of course you look great. But before you leave we need to do something with your hair." Evee cocked her head critically at Jen.

"I was thinking French braids," Jennifer said as she examined a strand of the just dried blonde hair.

"Good idea, want me to do it?" 

"Yep, I can barely do it on my own." The next minutes passed in silence except for Julia and Kelsii's energetic singing along with the radio and Heather's insistence that they turn that "junk" down. 

"Done."

"Nice," Jen said admiringly as examined one of the braids. "And um, if it isn't too much to ask, could you filch my orange 'Life is Good' hoodie from my room? I don't want to get too soaked and I don't want Kelsii to know I'm ruining her ensemble for the sake of warmth and comfort." 

"Gotcha. But aren't you going in the car?" 

"No. Mom flat out refused to let me borrow it. She told me I could walk just as well since they live basically next door."

"It's a mile!"

"I know, but all she said was that it looked like it was going to rain and now it is. Speaking of which, can I borrow your umbrella?"

"You're going to ruin your outfit!" Coming from Evee this was quite a statement since it was a sentiment which would usually have been voiced by Kelsii.

"I know, but Mom rules with an iron fist. Or at least she controls the car keys with an iron fist. So, can I borrow the umbrella and can you steal my hoodie for me?" Evee's mouth thinned into an almost imperceptible line before she answered.

"Of course I will. I'll be right back." She dashed out of the room and was back within minutes holding the bright orange hoodie that showed a stick person eating ice-cream on it and the clear plastic umbrella. 

"Thanks so much, Evee." Jen took the hoodie and pulled it over head and fixed her braids. She accepted the umbrella with the expression of one going to her doom. She had been excited that morning when Caroline Shelton had texted her to ask if she could come over for lunch with her and Louisa, which was just about as good as getting asked out by Chad. She might see him while she was there after all… Her anticipation had turned dreadful, however, when Myra had denied use of the car and delightfully told Jen that she would have to walk because it looked like it was going to rain; according to Myra Singleton, this meant that Chad would either have to give Jennifer a ride home or that Jennifer would have to spend the night with the Sheltons. She couldn't decide which would be better; both were equally preferable. Jennifer realized this mercenary tactic for what it was but did not dean to comment on it. Instead, she snuck out of the house wearing her orange hoodie and holding the umbrella so as to shield herself from the worst of the torrent. Jen turned back just as she left the driveway and waved to Evee, who returned the wave from the doorway. 

* * *

During her walk, Jen's conflicting emotions played an energetic tug-of-war in her heart and head. She really hated her mom for doing this to her. Okay, maybe she didn't. She hated Caroline Shelton for asking her over in the first place and not offering to come and get her; well, that was unfair, it certainly wasn't Caroline's fault that it was raining. Jennifer sighed and trudged dejectedly on the sidewalk along the winding road. Finally she took a right into the long dirt drive that led to the Shuford house. _Great, now my shoes will be muddy,_ Jen thought to herself in a very disgruntled frame of mind. 

When she reached the house, she was most definitely shivering, though whether it was from fear of criticism from the sisters or from the wet conditions she did not know. All she knew was that she must have been crazy to take this walk on a summer afternoon when thunderstorms were just as likely as sunshine. She moaned to herself as the door opened to reveal Chad on the threshold. _Great_, she mentally kicked herself. _Great, great, great, great. He thinks I'm stupid. I must look like a wet rat or something. _Jen looked down at herself to check her condition before looking back up at Chad; the gauzy dress was sticking to her thighs in a very embarrassing and idiotic looking way. It didn't look sexy at all – it just looked ridiculous. 

"Hey there," he exclaimed with enthusiasm. Did he not notice her disheveled state? Or was he just making fun of her? 

"Hi," she whispered back. Jennifer knew that if there was any justice in the world she would die then and there at the feet of this amazingly handsome dude who was smiling so gorgeously at her. But then his smile dropped a little. 

"Oh gosh, I'm sorry, come in before you keel over." He grabbed her upper arm and pulled her into the glow of the foyer. She felt warmth spread over her body from where he was still holding her, keeping her steady.

"Thanks," Jen mumbled. She felt herself quivering still and wondered randomly where Caroline was, though at the moment she was content for her to stay wherever she was hiding. 

"So beautiful, can you eat something?" Chad smiled at her and she found herself thinking that she loved the way his grin was just a little bit quirky like he was amused with himself, but not in arrogance; he just looked like he knew how to laugh at himself as much as he could laugh at others. "Oi, Jen Singleton! Can you hear me?" Sure Jen could hear him. She was just really tired all of a sudden. She was dripping and shivering violently but she could hear him. She didn't think she really had the ability to respond was all. Instead she smiled at him a little stupidly before closing her eyes. The last thing she heard was Chad shouting for Louisa to show him where the guest room was again, he couldn't quite remember at the moment.

Jennifer felt quite comfortable as she shifted in her sleep. Flopping onto her side, she opened her eyes a little. Instead of her seeing her own nightstand, she saw Chad Shelton sitting on a stool with a book on economics in his hand. He looked up as he flipped a page and saw her looking at him through her half-closed eyes. He smiled and put aside his book.

"You need anything? You know you never exactly had lunch."

"I know. I'm fine."

"Yeah…right." She laughed at his sarcastic tone and closed her eyes. When she opened them the second time, Chad wasn't there and she felt a little disappointed. Which was stupid, of course… She really would have found it creepy if he hung out by her bedside all the time. Looking at the table next to the bed, however, she saw his book was still there. She would have to ask him about it later. Again, she drifted off to sleep. 

She was awake when Chad came back later in the evening. He was holding a tray with a coke, a sprite, a water, what looked like kool-aid, fries, chips, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, and a carton of strawberries. 

"Ah." He blushed a little. "You're awake."

"Oh please," Jennifer said as she scooted up in the bed to prop herself up on some pillows. "Don't pretend you were going to just eat all of that by yourself."

"Hey, I've done worse before!"

"So have most people." She looked at the tray askance.

"Right," Chad said, regaining a little bit of his composure. "Do you want coke, sprite, water, or kool-aid?" 

"Sprite."

"Cool." He set the tray on her lap and took the kool-aid for himself. Quickly she amended her earlier statement.

"Unless you want it, of course!"

"No, I'm good." She continued to look worried and he laughed. "Seriously, I'm fine. I'm a big kool-aid junkie so I'm all good." She popped the can of sprite open, took a sip, and scooped a handful of chips before he spoke again. 

"What? No Ben and Jerry's?"

"Mm, what kind is it?"

"Half-baked. Or maybe it's rocky road. Hold on." Chad picked up the container with a flourish before reading the label. "Half-baked."

"That stuff is so good," Jen said.

"Yeah, I know. I can eat a whole pint easily when the mood hits me. Of course, then I have to go and work it off so _People_ will consider putting me on the cover." His face was so serious when he said it that Jen almost choked on her sprite as she took another drink. He leaned over and patted her back so softly that it was like a massage. Jennifer could feel herself going seriously red. So she had been touched by a couple guys before, but they had all resulted in juvenile reactions. Plus, none of them looked as good as this guy did right now. Neither of them – okay, so there had only been two, for all that she was considered the prettiest Singleton girl – held a candle to Chad, whose strawberry-blonde hair, dark blue eyes, and confident and goofy smile made her feel incongruous things. He cleared his throat and abruptly removed his hand; Jennifer took another quick drink.

"So, what were you reading earlier?" She pointed to the book he had laid on the table with one hand as she chose a strawberry with the other. 

"_The Choice_."

"_The Choice_?"

"Yeah, the full title is _The Choice: a Fable of Free Trade and Protectionism_."

"Where'd you pick it up? If you don't mind my asking…"

"One of dad's." Looking at it now, Jennifer saw that the pages were very worn and that the cover looked slightly tattered.

"Oh." She really didn't know what to say. What she did say – "I'm sorry" – seemed too inadequate.

"It's okay. I don't really mind." The silence stretched on.

"What's it about?" Before he could answer, she slapped herself on the forehead. "Duh, it's all in the title. You'll have to forgive me. I walked a mile in a rain storm and I'm not in my best mental state, I'm usually much smarter than this."

"Mm-hmm and I bet you usually don't have strawberry remnants on your forehead either." She barely had time to look confused before he had reached over and wiped her forehead with a napkin. "There, I think I have it." 

"Are you sure?" Jen touched her forehead anxiously.

"Yeah, wait, hold on." Chad extended his hand again and this time brushed a wisp of hair away from her forehead before he touched her face with the very tips of his fingers. "It isn't coming off."

She felt like she should close her eyes as he drew nearer but she could not bring herself too. It was like they were glued open as she watched the point just above his button-up shirt – it was only an inch away from her nose! When his lips moved against her forehead, however, her eyelids blanketed her vision in darkness and she saw fireworks on their insides. It was so tender and soft, so…gentle. As if of it's own accord she felt her body shift towards him as he drew away. 

He blushed this time and retreated farther as her cell phone started to buzz. She reached over and grabbed it to see a text from Evee. "Go ahead, I'll be right back anyway." Chad got up and loped out of the room, the back of his neck still a little red. Jen liked the way he acted so nervous even though he was older. It was really cute. Remembering why he had left, Jen flipped open her phone. 

Evee: R u alright?

Jennifer: Sort of…

Evee: Im coming over & don't try to stop me

Jennifer: k, I have a teensy cold. bring the Sudafed/whatever…

Evee: Ok, b there in a bit!

Jen dropped her phone beside the tray on the coverlet and picked up another strawberry. She glanced at the stool where Chad had been sitting and her face beamed like a beacon radiating happiness. She picked up one of the pillows beside her and engulfed it in her arms as she giggled helplessly. When she touched the spot on her forehead dreamily, she did not even notice that she had put her elbow on top of the bag of chips until she heard a very loud and disruptive "CRUNCH!"


	5. Indecision

Thanks so much Jakeline for your steady encouragement and reviews; thanks also to everyone who gave helpful hints

**Thanks so much Jakeline for your steady encouragement and reviews; thanks also to everyone who gave helpful hints. I'll try to respond accordingly.**

Jennifer laid in the king sized bed staring at the ceiling. It was really a huge bed but the room looked feminine. It was painted a very, very pale pink and had ballet shoes stenciled around the walls near the ceiling in white. Jen instantly realized that this would have been Minnie Shuford's room before she had gone to college. Minnie had been the baby girl of the family. She was doted upon by her mother, father, and two older brothers but was in possession an unspoiled spirit and an extraordinary amount of wisdom. She had also been a talented dancer – thus, the ballet slippers. Starting with ballet in elementary and moving onto ballroom in middle school before hitting high school and hip hop, Minnie had made the most of her talent. When she finally went to college, however, dancing had become more of a hobby as she trained to be a veterinarian at a school in the North East.

While Minnie had resided at her family's home, she was a mentor to Jennifer, who was six years her junior. As much as Jen loved her own family, she did not have a mother she could confide in and turn to for help. While Evee was a great comfort, she was not always the more experienced. So Jen had turned to Minnie in her middle school and early high school years for not only an older sister but also in many ways a mother and an aunt. Therefore, Jen experienced a slight shock to find herself recuperating in her stellar mentor's room, which she had only visited on rare occasions when she had slept over.

Jennifer was casting an eye over the rest of the room when she heard a slight commotion downstairs. Hastily, she threw the covers aside and prepared to vault out of bed to the door. She was distracted by the sight of a pile of books sitting on Chad's vacated stool. _I guess I went back to sleep_, Jen thought as she looked at the titles of the books. On top of the pile was a post-it note that read:

_For if you get bored, Sleeping Beauty._

Jen smiled. Chad's handwriting was like any other guy's. It was a bit messy and disconnected but something about it made her think of that ridiculous smile he got on his face when something made him happy. Or at least, she assumed it was Chad's. Who else would leave them there? She reflected that this was an accurate guess as she saw that _The Choice_ was on the very bottom of the pile after a mystery, a travel diary, a history, and a science fiction. Besides, it was just the sort of sweet thing he would do…

"Which door did you say it was, _Mr. Darcy_?" Jen looked up in surprise at the sound of Evee's voice. She had momentarily forgotten the reason she had leaped out of bed so enthusiastically. Evee had come to fulfill her text's dire warning. Jen was even more surprised to hear a bit of derision in her tone as she addressed Will Darcy. Okay, so he wasn't the most talkative guy, but come on. Evee didn't normally give up on people. Though, Jen had to admit, her sister had a bad habit of making premature judgments.

"The second one on the right, Miss Singleton." Jen raced back over to the mattress and proceeded to bury herself in the covers as Evee's footsteps approached.

"Thank you." Just before Evee walked into Minnie's, temporarily Jennifer's, room, Jen leaned over and ripped the post-it sticky off the book on top and stuffed it under her pillow. She loved Evee to death, but she did not want to be teased about a budding relationship at the moment. Plus, she wanted to keep this little bit of romance to herself for a while so she could cherish it in private. "Jennifer!" Evee launched herself onto the bed laughing.

"Hey girl!" Jen gave Evee an enthusiastic hug.

"Here's your Sudafed," Evee pulled the box out of her huge purse. "And, oh, I brought you a change of outfit, just in case." With this statement, the younger Singleton proceeded to produce several t-shirts, skorts, and shorts from her bag.

"Why on earth did you bring so many?" Jen looked askance at the overflowing fabric in Evee's petite hands and laughed. "I'm not that ill you know. I'm not bedridden."

"As soon as I told Mom I was coming over here to bring you the Sudafed, she went into overdrive. All of a sudden she's spending the weekend with her sister in Charlotte, and Dad, Julia, Kelsii, and Heather have to go too. Of course, she then proceeded to tell me that I should tell the Sheltons that we wouldn't be able to go home until they came back because she locked the house up and would it be okay if we could stay." Evee made a revolted face. "It's all for a good cause and everything" – Jen blushed – "but I mean how mercenary can she get! There are much better ways to spend time around guys. But does she understand that?" Evee rolled her eyes expressively. She was really worked up about the whole thing. As she continued to disparage their mother she revealed that the reason for her rant was none other than Caroline Shelton.

"She looked down at her nose at me and I could tell that she knew instantly what Mom was up to. She isn't as dumb as she looks."

"She isn't dumb at all!" Jen said defensively, although she barely knew Caroline.

"I'll grant you that she isn't dumb really," Evee said fairly. "But even you have to admit that the way she hangs on Will Darcy is pretty disgusting. She's very snobbish too…"

"Be fair, Evee," Jen said wearily. She had discussions like this one with Evee all the time and both of them knew the lines like actors in a play. "She has every right to be snobbish if she wants to be."

"But not every _reason_ to be!" Evee raised her finger like a prophet and said loftily, "I know that North Carolina is probably a bit of a come down after Washington, D.C. and New York but what have we hill-billies ever done to her?" Jen giggled.

"Anyway, Evee, you won't have to deal with her much once school starts and that's only a couple weeks away. By the way, have our schedules come?" Evee fished into the monstrous purse again and brought out an envelope that she handed over to Jen before sprawling across the foot of the bed with her own slip of paper. Jen tore open the envelope and scanned the accompanying letters before looking at the schedule. "Hm, I can't wait to do AP English. Minnie said it was a ton of fun despite all of the essays we have to write. She told me that Ms. Sellers assigns at least two a week in the second semester."

"That second semester looks incredibly easy," Evee commented as she read Jen's schedule upside-down before catching her sister's eye. "Except for English, of course."

"Of course."

"Teacher Assistant, German 4, and Humanities…nice. I've heard that Humanities is really easy. Anyway, I'm sure you'll do fine." The girls spent a few more minutes pondering the coming school year before moving on to more interesting topics, such as the Big Read and a Newsweek article on the presidential hopefuls for next year's election.

After Jen had changed into more comfortable clothing, athletic shorts and a t-shirt, they were interrupted by Chad. Forgetting to knock, he burst into the room to tell Evee that dinner was going to be at six. Although he was speaking to Evee, he was looking at Jennifer, who was blushing a gentle and delicate shade of pink as she met his gaze. His hair was sticking up in the front and it made her want to laugh. Out of the corner of her eye, Jen noticed Evee smiling at her as Jennifer continually smoothed the grin off her face. Was it really his messed up hair that had her grinning so impulsively, or was it just that he was here and acting so cute?

Chad lingered even after he had delivered his message to ask how they were doing and Evee tactfully left to change in another room; Chad had told her she could stay in the room next to Jen's while they were there. Once Evee had left, Chad continued to stand leaning up against the doorjamb with his hands stuck in his pockets. After a few seconds, Jennifer decided she would have to speak first.

"Thank you for the books. I'll look at them during dinner." Chad grinned impishly at her and the bottom seemed to drop out of her stomach.

"I hope you know I'm not excluding you from dinner. I just thought you'd want to get your beauty sleep."

"Oh, so now you're saying I _need_ my beauty sleep, huh?"

"Well, no I…" Chad couldn't think of a comeback to that and grinned again. "Touche." Jen smiled.

"I know what you meant. I'll be fine."

"Oh, no, don't worry, you're getting dinner in bed. I'll bring it up myself. I'm not trying to starve you either." He gave that amazing laugh of his that made her smile broaden instantly. He left and in the interim before Evee came back, Jen was left to some serious thinking.

She really liked Chad. Or at least she thought she did. She honestly wasn't sure. Jen was not fickle, but she did want to make sure she actually liked a guy before leading them on. And in Jennifer's mind, like equaled loving it when someone smiled at you, having her belly do flips, wanting to always be on the receiving end when hugs were going around, wanting to kiss them when she looked at them…. To be honest with herself, Jen would have to admit that those experiences were both common and extremely rare. She had tons of guy friends that she liked to just give hugs but none she just felt the urge to hug when her stomach got a hollow feeling. Her stomach tended to drop it's bottom a lot when she was nervous and said guy friend was relating news but never when she just looked at one. Jennifer always smiled back at people; it was just her nature. In conclusion, how exactly was she to know that she was not just overreacting as a friend? Maybe because Chad was being so attentive, she was misinterpreting her own feelings. It would not have been the first time that had happened. The last time that had happened, her boyfriend had threatened suicide when she finally told him she didn't think they could be more than friends in eleventh grade. Yeah, dating Jason had definitely been a mistake.

Of course, it could be the other way around. Chad could just be friendly by nature. He might not even like her like that if he was genetically nice. Now that Jennifer thought about it, everything that had happened seemed to support that theory. He had only asked her to dance because her mom had suggested it. He had only asked _her_ to dance because she was the oldest. He had been so willing to dance with Evee because he didn't want to be stuck with Jen all evening. He had gotten her water because it was the courteous thing to do. He had called her beautiful with merely platonic feelings. He had sat by her and brought her food because he was bored and a gentleman. He had left the books to be nice…he had done everything because he was nice.

At this point, Evee entered the room and Jen brightened.

"How do I look, Jen?" Evee spun on the spot and clasped her hands in front of her primly. She looked very sarcastic, cynical, and ready for war. Jen felt very glad that she wasn't going to be at dinner tonight.

"You look great!" Evee did look good. She was wearing a pair of embroidered jean pedal-pushers with a light, sleeveless tunic. "But Evee, try not to be too biting. I know Will and Caroline get on your nerves but don't…" Jen drifted off, not knowing how to finish the statement she had begun. Evee smiled widely.

"Don't worry, I won't embarrass you or Chad. Chad's pretty cool. He's got style. And he's smart. Your Mr. Shelton is the only one I really like," Evee pronounced with a long-suffering air and continued. "Of course, the Hursts – the sister and the in-law you know – they aren't too bad…"

"He isn't my Mr. Shelton, Evee," Jen said remembering her earlier thoughts.

"Well, he may be very soon!" Evee pecked her sister on the cheek before leaving the room to run the gauntlet.

With Evee's departure and parting words, Jennifer could feel herself sinking into a very deep depression revolved around her very confused feelings about Chad. She had finally made up her mind that she didn't like him a couple hours later when he came through the door holding another tray.

"So sleeping beauty, what can I interest you in?" She smiled despite herself and felt all of her resolve crumble away at that very sincere and caring smile. Maybe she would like him just a very little after all….


	6. Mix it Up

**Disclaimer: I am not Jane Austen – obviously. I do not claim originality in my ideas and I do not claim to own them therefore and now I move on to the good stuff. **

"What do you think about religion and government?"

_Crunch, crunch._

"Mmm, religion is very personal." The girl who was speaking flipped her golden hair out of her face. "I don't see anything wrong with an official's personal morals shaping his policies though as long as they aren't trying to force other people to convert or anything."

"I agree." The man walking with her poured some more of the trail mix into his mouth.

_Munch, crunch._

"Look, are you sure you don't want any, Jen?" Chad stopped to offer her the bag. Jennifer had to stifle a giggle. He had crumbs all over his face. It was ridiculously adorable. He was such a little kid.

"Oh I'm positive," she chirruped with a very broad smile. "Thanks though!"

_Munch, munch_.

"Did I do something?" Chad asked, smiling uncertainly.

"Oh no," Jen laughed. "Nothing at all."

Chad looked at her suspiciously. When she simply scrunched up her face in an even bigger grin, he upended the basically empty trail mix bag on her so that her mien was coated in crumbs just like his.

"Ugh, Chad! That's so disgusting," Jennifer spluttered as she wiped her face. Chad collapsed on the ground guffawing at the look on this 'perfect' girl's face. When he looked up from his grassy seat, he saw that she was laughing too.

"I should get you back for that you know," Jen said giggling as she plopped down on the grass beside him. It was the day after Evee had come and she was feeling decidedly better. Evidently, the weather was in agreement because the sun was out in full force making it a beautiful day.

"I know." He grinned as he turned to her and opened his mouth to continue. "But you won't."

Jen was a little bit stung. She hated being thought of as officially "good." Even thinking it sounded so…vanilla. Sure, she was a nice person and didn't always match up to the asperity of Evee, but she possessed some character. She wasn't a stupid Barbie doll. Though, Jen admitted to herself, she had liked Barbies very much when she was little.

"And why not?" She knew her mental scowl was making its presence known in her voice, but it wasn't very noticeable. Maybe he wouldn't hear it.

He did. She saw that he did because his face blanked out in confusion before he held up the bag as if it had been completely obvious.

"We don't have any more trail mix!" She laughed then. Of course – he had not been referring to her character; he was referring to the weapon of choice. He chuckled too. "Trust me, I know you look like a princess, but I would be dead frightened if I had brought more! And just think, what if I had brought kool-aid…" He gave an exaggerated shudder as her laughter subsided into a warm smile. Neither of them spoke for a while until he brought their attention back to earth. They had been staring at each other, both seeing and not seeing the person in front of them.

"When does school start for you again?"

"Monday."

"Today's Thursday, right?"

"Yeah. But I don't mind going back. I like school. I'm good at it most of the time, plus I get to see all of my friends."

Had she said something wrong? She must have. His face was a little dark. Well, as dark as his face could get anyway. The fact that he wasn't smiling was enough to worry her. She had only been around him a couple of days, but he always smiled. It was so strange; his strawberry-blonde hair was rumpled like normal and his blue eyes were still very dark, but that lop-sided grin was missing and with it the sparkle in the eyes. Jennifer decided that even if he wasn't going to tell her what was wrong, he wasn't going to mope when she could distract him. Leaning over, she poked him in the chest.

"Earth to Chad?" She pushed him with the flat of her palm a little and in response, he grinned up at her impishly. Her chest expanded. Everything was better when he was smiling at her like that. "What's up?"

"Hey, are you my friend, Jen?" Wow, she had not seen that coming. For some reason, the question made her a little nervous. It wasn't like he had asked her to marry him or anything. He hadn't even asked if she had liked him. Chad Shelton had only asked Jennifer Singleton if she was his friend. He was a couple, no several, fine five years older than her, but she didn't find it that awkward. At first she had. He was twenty-two for crying out loud. All of this whirled through her mind very quickly before her thoughts came to rest on her mom's expectations and her sisters' – even Evee's – insinuations. She did not know quite what to say as the cogs of her mind worked furiously to produce an answer, any answer.

"Jen? You're zoning." Chad had that funny little half smirk on his face.

"Yeah, no I'm fine. Just zoning out like you said."

"So?"

"So what?"

"So, are we friends?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Of course we're friends. I mean we don't know each other that well, but yeah. I think we're friends." At her response, he smiled wider and she grinned back.

"Come on, so what were we talking about before we got distracted?"

"Trail mix?" She offered helpfully.

"Don't be stupid," he snorted. "That's my job."

"Ri-ight," she acquiesced as she rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, what were we talking about?"

"I honestly can't remember, Chad." He gave a long suffering sigh that clearly told her she wasn't fulfilling her part of the friendship, which was strange in her mind. Yesterday, he was kissing her on the forehead, and today he was asking her if she was his friend. She really must have missed something.

"Let's go back then. I want to check some baseball scores." He got up slowly and dusted himself off before offering Jen a hand. Accepting it, she felt her skin tingle from the innocent contact.

"You're such a guy."

"Hey! What's wrong with that?"

"Just kidding, I like baseball, too," she said as she smirked at his stricken expression.

As they walked back toward the Shuford house, Chad reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small pack of pretzels.

"Oh, man, I think they got smashed!"

"What are you a bottomless pit?"

"Something like that." He opened the pack and pulled out a piece of pretzel. She watched carefully as he ate his way through the bag even as she made other comments about baseball teams. After he had pulled out the last whole pretzel bit and swallowed it, Jen made a quick grab for the plastic package and upended it on his face.

She didn't really know what gave her the courage to do it. She would never have done anything like that to anyone, let alone a guy she sort of liked. It would be stupid and embarrassing if he took offense. What would her mom say? What would her dad say? What would Evee say? Well, she could easily imagine Evee's wild laugh and whoop of congratulations. What was her conscience saying? _Oh you idiotic girl…he'll hate you now. _Well, her conscience or whatever it was had effectively ended Jen's momentary enjoyment of the situation.

Jen was already shrinking away from his stunned visage when he started to laugh. She grinned impulsively back at him and then burst into a shriek of laughter as he came toward her. Chad grabbed her and began to rub his very crumby and dusty face against hers. Now they had both stopped laughing.

"Don't pretend that you hadn't planned to do that," Chad said, trying to lighten the atmosphere as she pulled away. "You know your evil side was planning it as soon as you saw the bag."

Jen rolled her eyes. "Of course I was. I told you I should get you back, didn't I? You just don't listen." Despite his favorable reaction, Jennifer was still mortified to the very tips of her toes at what she had done. It was completely out of character for her. She reached up and brushed the crumbs out of his hair before grimacing sheepishly and muttering, "I'm sorry."

Chad smiled gently in return. It was like he knew exactly what she was thinking at that very moment. "It's ok. It was fun." She smiled back up at him, still a little uncertainly. "Really," he continued to assure her. "It was hilarious." His hands slid from where they were holding her upper arms to her hands and he gave them a reassuring squeeze. She was feeling very warm.

"Yeah," Jen replied a little breathlessly.

"Ok." Chad turned toward the house again, but this time he still held one of her hands in his. She felt like she could skip like a little girl at hop scotch, she felt so light and up in the clouds.

"Oh yes, and earlier we were talking about religion and government."

"And I agreed with everything you said."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you don't remember?" She shook her head at him. At the moment, the only thing Jen was thinking about besides the topic of the earlier conversation was the way it felt when he held her hand like only he did. "Well, I did. I think the same way you said you do."

"That's nice," she said softly as the two traipsed up the hill to the house. They went very slowly. As much as each one loved the others who were waiting, Chad and Jennifer were enjoying their simple unspoken pleasure too much to share it with anyone at the moment.


	7. Weekend Opportunities

**Thanks for all of the reviews so far. Also, sorry it's taken me so long to update. I won't make excuses of school work because it's actually been rather minimal; I just had a tiny writer's block. Don't worry I've got a plan now…**

**I am not Jane Austen – obviously. **

Jennifer pushed the door of the compartment above her locker shut. It didn't close at first and she had to slam it several times before it stuck and she could shut the door of her locker as well.

"Geez girl, you've got some issues." Jen rolled her eyes at Evee. "Do I need to sign you up for anger management classes or something? If I did I would be very, very worried you know."

"I _don't_ have unexpressed anger okay?" Evee just smirked. "I don't."

"So you're not sore about what happened two weeks ago, because I sure am."

"What happened two weeks ago?"

Evee quirked her right eyebrow at her sister. Jen really envied being able to do that. She had sat in front of the mirror for hours in sixth grade trying to make one of her eyebrows do it alone.

"Please, don't tell me you've forgotten about it already."

"Well, honestly Evee! That was two weeks ago. May I remind you that we've been in school for two weeks? My head's been full of other things."

Evee's eyebrow virtually disappeared behind her wayward bangs. Jen sighed. She had not forgotten what had happened in all truthfulness.

Approximately two weeks ago, Mrs. Singleton and co. had returned from Charlotte to descend upon the Shelton home. Jen was quite serious about her diction too. Myra had literally descended like a bird of prey on the unsuspecting family. Evee had pointed out that the visit had hardly been unforeseen by any member of the party but Chad, though Evee said encouragingly that this was a point in his favor. Her junior sister could not, however, say as much for Will Darcy and Caroline Shelton. She was all too quick to note the terse and cynical sarcasm both had adopted upon the arrival of Mrs. Singleton. Jen had faithfully made the appropriate hmm-ing noises while Evee had ranted on. Though she had not been quite so embarrassed as Evee seemed to have been, Jen was nonetheless mortified.

Chad had been the epitome of a perfect host to her brash mother as he overlooked all of her faults and simply smiled and nodded at her. He had not been patronizing, had made excellent small talk, and had kept up a flow of conversation while diffusing possible situations until Mrs. Singleton had run out of things to talk about.

As the family was departing and Myra Singelton was rambling on, Julia and Kelsii suddenly broke into a fit of giggling. Myra immediately broke off her conversation and Caroline rolled her eyes at Will – or so Evee had said.

"What girls?"

"Well, Mr. Shelton," Julia began.

"Chad, please."

"Ok, well, _Chad_" – more giggling from Kelsii as she continued and this time Evee rolled her eyes – "you know you did promise to throw a party once y'all had moved in and you will lose face if you don't do it now."

Chad grinned excitedly. He was such a kid at heart in Jen's eyes. He crossed his arms unconcernedly though before responding. "We-ell…I suppose…"

"Oh you have to!" Julia looked as if she was about launch at him but restrained herself.

"I guess we could. What do you think, Caroline? I won't bother asking Will. He's so cynical when it comes to having fun." Jen had looked at Will with a smile and noticed that his eyes were fixed on Evee who was staring back challengingly. Caroline was staring at Will.

"It's an okay idea if you really want to Chad… But I value William's opinion very highly. What _do _you think, Will?"

Will had turned to Caroline before doing the exact same eyebrow quirk of Evee's that spawned jealously in Jen's soul. "It would certainly give you an opportunity to show off your talent for throwing a party." Caroline clapped her hands delightedly. Jen's smile had grown. Smart of Will really to play to her strengths to get her to be willing…

Now, therefore, there was going to be a bash at the beginning of fall break. It was rumored that Caroline Shelton would be going all out. Everyone at school had been talking about it the first week of school. Evidently, Caroline's "party talent" had been listed in a prominent magazine. Jen thought that this was rather exciting and that the party was sure to be fun at least, but Evee responded acidly that Caroline had probably paid off the editor somehow to get in the magazine in the first place. Thinking on Evee's obvious distaste for the whole clan, Jen blurted the first thing that came into her head – an unusual occurrence.

"Why are you still so upset about that little thing weeks ago when you don't care a tat for any of them?" Jen cringed inside but stood firm. It was a rather good question.

"Well, I like Chad, and Louisa's husband really isn't that bad. He's quite humorous actually. It's just that I don't like Caroline or Will Darcy. But I do care what Chad thinks of our family. After all you like him and he likes you." Jen made a face. "You do like him, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, I do, it's just that I don't really think he likes me more than a friend… I mean he's really nice and I sort of like him but I – I just don't know." Nothing else definitive had happened during Jennifer and Evee's stay with the Sheltons and Jen had put her indecision in the forefront of her emotions indefinitely.

"Oh come on! Get over it. He really likes you."

"Yeah – I suppose so." Jen had to admit that while nothing _definitive_ per say had occurred, he had been extra nice and just talked to her about stuff. And he was always nervous around her, jamming his hands in his pockets and crossing and uncrossing his arms. Evee continued before Jen spoke again.

"Anyway, aren't you guys getting together later this week or something?"

"No, what gave you that idea?" Jen wished they were…

"Well, I thought he said that he would being seeing you later on when we left and I took that to mean…" Evee left the sentence hanging, like a fill-in-the-blank question for Jen to answer.

"Oh, no, I think he just meant in a general sense."

"Oh," Evee looked rather dejected.

"You're just as bad as Mom, Eves!" Jennifer laughed at Evee as her sister put on a look of mock horror.

"I am not! I just want you to be happy. And since you like the dude, that means checking to see if you have a date with him or not." Evee frowned momentarily. "Though I'll admit, I am being a bit nosey. I'll stop if you want, I'm sorry."

"It's okay! Really, I was just kidding hun!" Jennifer flung out an arm to hug Evee.

"Thanks," Evee said before looking at the books in Jen's arms. "I thought you said you had an easy semester!"

"No, you said that and that is next semester. This half of the school year is German, English, History of the 20th century, and AP Stats."

"Ugh…that does not sound fun."

"I thought you had AP stats too!"

"I do! Next semester though, and that doesn't sound fun either."

"Well, my only really bad class is stats," Jen said as she hefted her bag onto her shoulder. "I mean, 20th is challenging, but I like it, so it's no problem."

Jennifer and Evee had turned to walk down the hall when a shout came from behind them.

"Hey, Evee! Wait up!" The girls turned around to see Annie hurrying after them while trying to juggle a cake platter, a bookbag, a purse, and a sports bag. "Hey Jen," she said breathlessly when she finally caught up with them and they had resumed walking.

"Hi Annie. Having a good first couple weeks back?"

"Sure, whatever you say Jen." Jennifer laughed. Annie hated school with a passion. She didn't rebel but she did tend to be apathetic at times. "Can we swing by my locker guys? I need to get rid of this stuff." Annie huffed as she blew at a wisp of dirty blonde hair that had escaped her lopsided ponytail. The sisters assented and the three turned left down a very green corridor to Annie's locker.

"What's the cake plate for, Annie?" Evee asked when Annie had handed it to her so she could open her locker.

"Hm?" Annie had just opened her locker to a loud gushing sound as papers cascaded over the grimy floor.

"Wow, you collected all of this after only two weeks?" Jen gaped at the papers. She didn't know if she would be able to live with such disorganization. She shut her mouth and continued. "What classes do you have?"

"Chem, Latin, AP US, and Pre-Cal. Speaking of which," Annie turned to Evee as she threw the mess back into her locker haphazardly, "the cake plate is for Latin." Evee and Jen looked at each other, utterly confused. Evee smirked before she tilted the plate at Annie.

"Um, Annie, don't you usually bring a cake to go on the cake plate when you take something like this to a class? Or is it invisible?" Annie laughed.

"Of course, sorry. No, it isn't invisible. I took it home by mistake yesterday after we had a food day. It's really Chelsea's. I thought it was mine for some reason."

"Real smart, Annie. Real smart." The bell rang and Jennifer shouldered her bag and waved to Evee before heading off to German. It felt like she would be in for a long day already, though such premonitions had nothing to do with Annie's cake platter. Maybe it was because it was raining… Either way, she was glad it was Friday.

Jennifer had to admit to herself that she was a bit of a homework freak that afternoon as she stared down yet another long and tedious statistics problem. She never liked to leave all of her homework till Sunday and if that made her weird, so be it.

_What does this mean??_ Jennifer stared at the page in utter confusion. She had just learned this and now she couldn't remember any of it. _Time for a break_, she thought ruefully to herself and vaulted up from her position on the floor to the computer. When she had logged onto her facebook, she saw that she had a new friend request. It was from Chad Shelton. Of course she also had one a couple days old from Caroline E. Shelton, but the one Jennifer was wholly taken up with was Chad's.

She confirmed his request and then wrote him a message.

_Hey! What's up? Before you ask I'll admit I haven't gotten very far in that book you lent me. I keep getting distracted. It's not typical high school reading. Is Will getting settled in okay? I hope he likes Wittenberg! There are tons of things to do even if it doesn't look like it!_

Jen surveyed the message critically. She really didn't know what to write to him. Was she too vague about everything? Maybe she shouldn't have asked about Will… She probably shouldn't be writing him first anyway. That was definitely something to consider. Jennifer looked at her cat, who was lounging regally on the body pillow on the floor.

"What do you think, Sherlock?" The fluffy mix merely looked at Jen apathetically before beginning to wash. "No need to be so patronizing about it." Sherlock simply continued to wash his face. "You know you may look cute, but you're no help at all besides giving comfort." The colorful cat continued his hygienic ministrations unconcernedly. "Fine."

She sent it.

She restrained herself from hitting her head against the desk. Jennifer was having yet another battle with herself. The sensible side said that sending the message wasn't that big of a deal. The worried, nervous, affected side was freaking out that he would take it wrong – though how he could, this side didn't really know. The sensible side won out and she decided that it was just a message. That's it.

She checked her inbox.

There was a message – from Caroline. _Bummer_.

_Hey Jenni Sweetie! How's school? I'm so glad I'm out of it. Completely boring. By the way, Louisa and I are going shopping this weekend. Want to come? Louisa may be the one with a college degree, but I'm the one with the connections in town! Just tell me! xxxxooooCaroline_

Jennifer didn't know how to reply. She liked shopping just fine, but she was planning on spending that weekend resting. _Better be careful writing her back then…_

_Hi Caroline! Yeah, school's ok; it is senior year and all. Anyway, I'm sorry but I can't go shopping with you this weekend. Family obligations. Sorry, really. Thanks for the invite, I would have loved to go. You have great taste!_

Jen clicked back to the inbox and saw a reply from Chad. It was simply too good to be true in her mind.

_Hey! I really like it here! I'm glad we moved. Anyway, what are you doing this weekend? Caroline and Louisa are going shopping and Will's off to attend to important business. Business is always important with him. :-P You want to do something this weekend? Evee could come too if you want…but it could be just us…_

Jen felt like banging her head against the desk again. _What an ironic situation…_ She slumped in her chair and looked back at Sherlock who was now sleeping quite peacefully. He certainly wouldn't be any help.

She couldn't reply to that message. She didn't want to because she knew she would have to turn him down because she had told his sister that she had "family obligations." _What a stupid excuse!_ Well, she would just have to do it.

_I am so sorry Chad! I have to stay in this weekend. I have family obligations. I would have loved to though._

She hadn't specified about Evee on purpose. Jennifer didn't want to be too blunt and she wasn't exactly bold by nature – that was Evee's department.

Shoving away from her computer desk, Jennifer walked out of the room. She was trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and that laptop. She felt bad that she had lied to Caroline but she felt even worse that she had lied to Chad. Jennifer's thoughts drifted around ways to fabricate a family obligation as she wandered into Evee's room.

"What's up?"

"I need a prior engagement."

"You need a – I quote – prior engagement?"

"Pretty much, yeah. A 'family obligation' if you will."

"A family obligation?"

"What are you a parrot?" Jennifer huffed as she collapsed on Evee's bed.

"Hardly." By this time, Evee had turned around to face Jen. "Why exactly is this necessary?"

Jen opened her mouth to explain but was cut off by their mom's voice calling them downstairs. "I'll tell you later I guess." Evee nodded and the two thundered down the stairs. At the bottom waited Mr. and Mrs. Singleton and the triplets. Their dad was holding a sheet of paper.

"I've gotten an email from my second cousin, Colin. He's to inherit most of the family's wealth," Myra Singleton opened her mouth indignantly but Ben continued doggedly, "don't ask why, some weird legal stuff. I don't really know what he does. He just says that he's coming to stay with us for a while. He does hint darkly at falling in love with one of you though." Myra Singleton beamed at the happy news. Ben and Evee rolled their eyes almost simultaneously as Jen smothered a laugh. Kelsii and Julia began to chatter ecstatically and Myra joined them while throwing pointed glances at Evee. Evee, however, ignored the looks.

"When is he coming exactly, Dad?" Evee asked as she descended the stairs to glance at the email.

"Saturday."

"Shoot, I was going to go to the movies with Annie."

"Looks like you can't now. Sorry, sweetheart."

The commotion continued around Jen but she was beaming inside. She may not get to go on a date with Chad that weekend but at least she hadn't lied to him. She had a prior engagement to attend to after all.

**Please review, I really like your input so far. **


	8. Finally Arriving

**I am not Jane Austen – Duh!! So this is a little longer than usual for me. Anyway, hope you guys like it! **

"Do you think he's a clever man, Dad?"

"Oh I doubt that. In fact, I have high hopes of him being the complete opposite."

Jen giggled to herself at Evee and their dad's conversation. The two of them loved to observe others' characters. Or rather they loved to judge them – innocently and wittily of course.

Her dad and sister's sarcastic humor would not, however, lighten her mood today. She would stand there and smile, but inside she was more than a bit upset. Today was Saturday, and instead of being on a date with Chad, she was waiting for a long lost cousin who wanted to impose upon them.

_That's a bit harsh for you, don't you think?_ Jen mentally shrugged at that question. It was a bit harsh. Besides, she had already given up the date when she had found out that Colin would be arriving on Saturday. It wasn't his fault. Still, he was the ultimate prevention.

They were all sitting in the living room, twiddling their thumbs; Mrs. Singleton was pacing back and forth. Colin was arriving at ten o'clock. Julia and Kelsii had not found this ordeal particularly to their taste. They loved to sleep in, often till noon. Evee had been in sympathy with them that morning, something that did not occur often. Myra Singleton had woken up her second oldest daughter at seven o'clock to do her hair and her make-up. Evee woke up grumpily and violently opposed this plan; she was not going to try to impress a distant relation and she was not going to get out of bed an hour and a half too early for no good reason. At least, that's what Jen thought she had said. Evee had screamed it at her mom, but it was still hard to make out through a shut door.

The only two girls who actually had no trouble getting up early on Saturdays were Heather and Jennifer. Jennifer got up relatively early only because she loved the morning, she didn't want to feel lazy, and she didn't want to waste half the day. Heather's reasons were similar but her true belief was in the adage "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Or something like that. Jen doubted that Heather really cared for the wealthy part of the saying though.

"Oh!"

Jen looked up, her train of thought ruthlessly broken by her mom's excited outburst.

"Oh, I think he's here!" Myra Singleton jumped up and rushed out of the room, the rest of her family following sluggishly. Julia and Kelsii looked as if they had brightened somewhat at the prospect of fresh meat, but their eyelids were still heavy with sleep.

Jen emerged from the front door right behind her mom to see a man pulling himself out of a limo.

"Hello Singleton family!" Jen berated herself as she made mental note that his voice lacked any sign of character; it was neither loud, nor brash, nor quiet, nor meek, nor slimy. It was just there. Deadpan – except not the funny deadpan. The Keanu Reeves deadpan – no emotion, no anything. To Jen's ears, he sounded as if he was making a great effort to sound enthusiastic with his greeting. Deciding to cut him some slack, she noted that he looked like a genuinely nice guy, very…wholesome. "Nice" and "wholesome," however, did not seem to come up to Julia and Kelsii's standards. Jen looked over to see the two sisters trying to hide their giggles.

_Why are they giggling?_ Jen looked back around at Colin, who had just tripped over his own luggage on his way to greet Mr. Singleton. _Oh. Poor guy._ Jen shot a glance at Evee; her face was screwed up in a very comical expression – a mixture of pity and a desire to laugh. Heather, not unusually, had a studiously observant look plastered onto her face; she had evidently not yet passed judgment on this new character.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Singleton." Colin was now over-enthusiastically pumping Ben's hand.

"It's good to meet you too, Colin," Ben Singleton said warmly as he tried to extract his hand from his relative's grip.

"Would you be so kind as to introduce me to the rest of your charming looking family?" His voice was still nothing, but it taken on a rather pompous edge. Jen mentally apologized to Colin for that statement, though it was true.

"Certainly." Evidently Ben Singleton had also noticed the new attitude and he now guided the beaming Colin over to the women with a wink at Evee. "This is my wife, Myra--"

"A pleasure ma'am," interrupted Colin. Myra was torn between twittering excitedly because he was being so attentive or staring coolly and unemotionally back at him because he was destined to take her fortune from her.

"—and my daughters: Jennifer, Evelyn, Heather, Julia, and Kelsii. Those three are the triplets. Three of the silliest girls I have ever known if I do say so myself."

"Ben!" Myra looked at her husband outraged. She would obviously not stand for her husband ruining this opportunity. Ben, however, continued as if he had not heard her.

"Girls, this is Colin Wilson. He is my second cousin, isn't that right, Colin?"

"Yes, sir," Colin said as he looked at Jen. His gaze was a measuring one. She smiled warmly at him but immediately wanted to take it back when he smirked – no, leered back.

"And what is it exactly that you do, Colin?" The party had turned now and was walking back into the house when Myra Singleton fired her shots at Colin. "And might I ask how old you are?" Colin's face brightened immediately at the question of employment, and he gave a little chuckle. Out of the corner of her eye, Jen could see Evee smiling broadly at their dad.

"Mrs. Singleton--"

"Myra."

"_Myra_, first of all, I am twenty years of age. Second of all, my career is of the highest caliber. I am the personal secretary of the most esteemed and highly regarded woman of the business world – Katherine Burgess." Colin puffed out his chest proudly. Jen could see now that Kelsii and Julia had been joined in the giggles by Evee. Jen could hardly blame them; the whole thing was rather ostentatious. Heather, however, looked absolutely riveted on every word the man was saying. "She is as peerless as the skyscraper her office resides in. Her morals of hard, virtuous work inspire me to greater heights every day!" From the fit of coughing Ben Singleton was suddenly suffering, Jen could clearly distinguish a snort of laughter. Heather was now nodding her head enthusiastically. Jen pitied the poor guy; he would be in for a wild ride with her family. Well she felt sympathetic toward him until he smiled at her again. Myra Singleton noted it, and her eyes widened worriedly.

If Jen's mom wanted to disabuse Colin of his wayward thoughts, she would not be one to hinder her. In fact she was already zoning out, a very un-Jen-like thing to do, and dreaming about her next possible date with Chad. Not that they had actually been out on a date. How strange… It felt like they already had been in a way.

That evening over dinner, Colin seemed to rise to new heights in ludicrous behavior. While his voice had not changed one wit – it was still a dry bit of nothing –, the manner in which he spoke had become more animated. He raved about his employer: her business sense, her condescension, her patronage and appreciation of the arts, her lofty place in business hierarchy, her connections with the political world, her condescension. At first Jen had wondered if he knew the meaning of the word he was using. But he kept on repeating it: her gracious "condescension." How charming. Heather was perhaps the only person at the dinner table that found his conversation truly enjoyable for something other than entertainment and silent laughter.

When dessert finally went around the table, Colin finally subsided into describing his own merits – particularly to Ben Singleton. As he took a small slice of apple pie, he mentioned "dear Ms. Burgess' daughter," Phillipa.

"She would be the epitome of the feminine in all senses of the word, Cousin Ben, if it were not for her very poor health. She is talented in many different fields. She understands the intricacies of business and politics better than most. And she is a very pretty specimen of womanhood. Her illness, however" – Colin never elaborated as to _what_ exactly plagued the good Phillipa Burgess – "prevents her from shining as she could. I have told Ms. Burgess this myself. 'Ma'am,' I said, 'the utter madness of illness has deprived the arena of it greatest competitor, the theater of its most talented actor, the ball of its most beautiful debutante!'" Here the enraptured man paused to catch his breath. Mr. Singleton made a funny noise in his throat. "I am always on the lookout, sir, for opportunities to drop such compliments that are always pleasing to women." A loud clatter sounded. Evee had dropped her fork and was now discreetly wiping her eyes with her napkin. Kelsii had stuffed her fist in her mouth. Jen felt herself turning red in the face as she bit down on her lips to keep the giggles bubbling in her throat from escaping.

"Do you think of these compliments before hand, or are they spur of the moment ideas?" Ben Singleton fixed his cousin with an inquisitive gaze but a half-smirk tugging at his mouth as he speared some apple with his fork.

"They are mostly my reaction during the heat of the moment, but sometimes I'll admit that I have fun coming up with ones that can be changed for any occasion. I always like to be prepared." Several coughing fits and sneezes erupted along the table as Heather looked scandalized at this sudden and inappropriate outbreak.

After dinner, Jen watched carefully as Colin approached Myra. Looking around the room furtively to see if anyone was watching her, Jen stepped out of character for the second time that day. She edged her way along the couch until she could comfortably hear the conversation between her mom and her cousin. Colin's voice had reverted back to uninteresting nothingness, interrupted by dry coughs, but Myra Singleton's voice sounded excited.

"I find all of your girls particularly intriguing in their own way, Mrs. Singleton, ma'am." _Cough, cough._ Jen allowed herself a tiny smile; this man was starting to remind her of Professor Umbridge from _Harry Potter_. Mentally, Jen smacked herself. _Don't be mean, girl! Besides, Umbridge is much more interesting than Colin Wilson… No offence, Colin_. Jen's attention snapped back to the conversation when she heard her mom's tones.

"That's very sweet, Colin." Jen looked over to see Myra place a finely manicured hand on Colin's arm before she continued. "We love each of our girls very much. They will make fine brides someday!" _How blunt, mother dear!_

"Yes, ma'am." _Cough, cough_. "Perhaps, Jennifer especially…" Jen could feel herself stiffen. Well, she had seen that coming but it still sounded pretty weird. But then, she was safe. She knew she was. Jen knew that her mom would send Colin sniffing around in another direction to protect the possible alliance with Chad. Jennifer winced as she realized where exactly Colin would sniff around next. It was bound to be Evee. He might go for Heather though. Jen sincerely hoped he did. Heather seemed to like him after all. Maybe Heather would attract Colin. She was his kind of girl…sort of. He didn't seem to be as philosophical as she was, but maybe… _Oh please let it be Heather…puh-lease…_

"I'm afraid that Jen is already in something of a relationship Colin. You know I would not be averse to such an alliance but I am one for protecting a girl's heart when she has already given it." Mrs. Singleton gave a funny, tinkling laugh as if she had made a joke of some sort. Colin did not join in.

"Oh I see."

"As for my other daughters, none of them are attached _permanently_ to anyone as far as I know." Jen laughed at the emphasis on the word permanently. Myra was obviously making allowances for Kelsii and Julia's male admirers who they dated on rotation.

"Ah. Thank you ma'am for that assurance."

The next day when Kelsii and Julia mentioned walking over to the university campus to look around and hang out, Myra Singleton suggested to Colin that he might like to join them. Kelsii's face fell dramatically but Colin's visage lifted perceptibly. He accepted immediately and walked toward the den, where Evee and Heather were both sitting. Jen crossed her fingers for Heather as he drew closer and gave that cough of his.

"Cousin." Heather turned around at the address but Evee only hmm-ed. "Evee, I'm walking to the campus with your sisters. Would you walk with me?" Jen saw Evee sigh before she got up and set aside the cat she had been petting while she had been talking to Heather.

"Sure, Colin. I guess that's okay."

In the end, all of the girls went. Kelsii and Julia brought up the head of the line: they were eager to see some of the guys they knew so well from their previous escapades. Jen and Heather walked together and Jen tried to keep Heather engaged, but her younger sister kept falling back to listen in on the conversation behind them. It wasn't much of a conversation from what Jennifer could hear. It was really mostly Colin talking to Evee and Evee making assenting noises and asking vague questions as she walked. After her fifth attempt to talk to Heather, – "Is your new French teacher any good? You really didn't like the last one if I remember right." – Jen gave up and contented herself with thinking to herself about Chad.

He'd written her back on Facebook and it had made her smile when she read it.

_That's too bad. I would have liked to see you. I would suggest we get together Sunday afternoon, but Will and I are watching football. I mean you can come if you want, but you'd have to put up with Will complaining about how our football isn't the same as his football. I don't know if you knew but he's half British and he spent the first, what, ten years of his life in England. He only just lost his accent. Caroline always tries to do british accent whenever his comes out. Course, hers doesn't work so well. Not saying that to be mean…but you know. Anyway, sorry, got a little off topic. I won't forget I promise. ___

Jen didn't know why it made her smile. She wasn't going to see him tomorrow after all. But he was sorry. And she could envision him laughing as he talked about Will and Caroline.

He'd also written on her wall: "Trail mix buddies forever!"

Jen had laughed at that. It would seem pretty cryptic to everyone else, and she liked that. Not even Evee knew what it meant. Before Chad and Jen had gone back to the others' company that afternoon that had swung by the kitchen first to wash off their faces.

"Oh, Julie! Look there's Dennis!" Kelsii flipped her hair off of her shoulder and whipped out her phone to text Dennis presumably.

"And Frank!" Julia waved at the other boy standing beside Dennis, who was now texting furiously.

"Cool! Dennis says that there's a new freshman! Transfer student or something," Kelsii explained unsatisfactorily. "I wonder if he's cute."

"Well, you don't have to wonder long, they're coming now," Evee said as she disengaged herself from Colin who was trying to talk to her about Katherine Burgess – again.

"Oh he is sexy! Don't you think, Evee?" Kesii looked slyly at Evee before Julia poked her in the ribs and nodded her head toward Colin. "Oh right…" The two burst out laughing. Colin and Heather blushed furiously but Evee didn't seem to mind. She usually didn't mind, but she also usually made some sort of sarcastic comeback. No such reply came. Looking at Evee more closely, Jen noticed that this was probably because Evee's gaze was fixed on the approaching guys, most notably the new one. Jennifer glanced at the kid and decided that he didn't look that bad. Tall, dark, and handsome wasn't really her style though. And as much as she hated to admit it, this guy sure did look good. He had tight curly black hair with a decidedly affected hint of stubble and very, very white teeth. Much too predatory for her tastes. _What was that? Was that a judgment? I do believe you are slipping! Do not judge others before they have a chance to introduce or defend themselves_. Jen sighed. She didn't know what was happening to her. It must be that all of those years knowing Evee and her Dad were finally paying off. Or finally contaminating her...

"Kelsii, Julia."

"Hey Dennis!" Kelsii lunged at Dennis to hug him around the neck.

"Hi Frank." Julia smiled widely at the young man who blushed at this mere girl's attention but grinned back.

"Oh girls, this is our new fraternity man: Georgie Porgie. He's a freshman, just got inducted," Dennis said as he clapped "Georgie Porgie" on the shoulder.

"Lay off, Dennis. At least get my name right if you're going to introduce me."

"Sorry. It's George Carson. George, these are the Singleton girls: Jennifer, Evelyn" –

"Dennis! You know Evee hates it when anyone calls her that," burst out Kelsii uncharacteristically thoughtful. Evee's cheeks turned slightly pink. George was studying her intently.

"Oh yeah, _Evee_, Heather, Julia, and _Kelsii_," Dennis finished with a flourish. Feeling like Colin should not be forgotten, and because Heather was nudging her in the ribs, Jennifer quickly made the last introduction.

"This is our several times removed cousin, Colin Wilson. He's staying with us for a while," she said vaguely.

The guys seemed to realize that Colin was not of their kind and left him alone for the most part as the group walked to the quad – a great, grassy area where students lounged, played Frisbee, and sometimes tried unsuccessfully to fly a kite. Colin had been forgotten by Evee, who was now caught up in animated conversation with George Carson. Heather had sat down on a bench with her journal. Kelsii, Julia, and Jen were walking with Dennis and Frank. Well, Jen was walking; Kelsii and Julia were dashing back and forth, having not yet realized that this behavior was a sign of immaturity. Jennifer was laughing good-naturedly at their antics when she heard someone calling her name.

"Jen! Jen Singleton!" She knew that voice…

"Oh look, Jennifer," Julia said as she stopped abruptly. "It's Chad Shelton and Will Darcy."

Jen turned around and saw to her delight that Chad and Will were indeed approaching her. She attempted to keep her smile from becoming too foolish as she felt it spread across her face. She would have asked Will why he was here since Chad had said he had business to take care of but he never made it to the party of young people. He stopped a little suddenly before turning to Chad and then walking off in another direction. Jen supposed that he had just remembered something he had to do. It wasn't a topic she was going to dwell on though, because Chad was still approaching her.

"Hey." He smiled that goofy, lopsided smile.

"Hi Chad." She fought the urge to lean across the short space and hug this man that she found so attractive. He looked very, very huggable. Looking past Chad, Jen saw Colin hovering near Evee. His presence reminded her of why she wasn't on a date right now. "Oh yeah, that's my very estranged cousin over there. Colin Wilson. He's staying with us for a while."

"So that's your family obligation."

"Yeah."

"Why's he visiting? I mean, not to be rude, or anything…"

"No it's fine. I'm not really sure as to exactly why he's here, but um…well it's really stupid."

"If it is, it's probably really funny too."

"Okay, well, I think he's here because he wants to hook-up with someone…" She slapped her hand over her mouth as soon as she had said it. That sounded so wrong. And so weird!

"Wow."

"Mmm."

"So, um, should I be glad that we're sort of…together?" It was a question. She smiled shakily.

"Are we together?"

"Do you want to be?" He looked so nervous. She loved it. She wanted to jump up and down right about now.

"Yeah. If you want to be," she managed to say evenly.

"Yep, I do…" It was all so innocent. As he leaned closer toward her, she noted in her peripheral vision that no one else was looking. Everyone else was occupied.

_Good_, she thought to herself, as he bent his head and kissed her. It was a kiss just like his question – just like how she felt: innocent, sweet, almost timid. But then it wasn't, because it was a little bit more passionate just before they broke apart and smiled at each other knowingly. _Yeah_, she thought as she leaned against his chest just a little as he hugged her, _I can handle this_.

**Please Review…**


	9. After the Hit

**And the plot thickens…. I hope this actually isn't a let down after the last chapter. Thanks to the reviewers who are keeping me going.**

After what had happened at the campus that day, Jen wondered if her relationship with Chad would become awkward. In fact, it did for a little bit. Not that day. That day everything had been simply sunnier than usual. The next morning, however, Jen had woken up and felt a small weight on her chest. She was with someone. She was "going out with" Chad Shelton. She was going out with a twenty-two year old _man_ who liked her and whom she thought was gorgeous! She laid there in bed, thinking as she listened to the various early morning sounds of the house. She pondered what would happen now, what they would do together, how they would be together…

Of course, she didn't spend all of her time thinking about Chad. She certainly spent a good amount of her free time thinking about him but not all of it. She was still pretty busy working on the never-ending college applications. Before she had begun filling out the applications, there had been the always-present, always-pressing question: what do you want to do? Scary thought. What did she want to do with her life? The question still sat in her mind waiting to be answered as she continually put it off.

Her mom was no help at all: Myra only went on about Chad whenever Jen asked her what she thought. Her dad, though slightly better, still wasn't a great help. She loved him to death, but she didn't have the connection with him that Evee did. Callously, and unknowingly, he had made her very serious question a joke. She could hardly fault him for it and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she was being serious. She really _did_ want advice on what career path to pursue! He had laughed kindly at her and said that he had thought that she'd just always be his little girl. _Right, thanks a lot, Dad_.

Jen hadn't even meant to glean the triplets' opinions. It was an accident in the first place that they had even heard her discussing it with their mom. Julia suggested she become an actress because she was so beautiful. Heather replied that she would be sad to see any of her sisters go into such a "carnal" profession. Kelsii acted as though Heather had not spoken and commented that Jen was too nice to be an actress; she would be better off as a fashion model – but on second thought, Kelsii decided that she was too nice for that profession as well. Finally, Julia had pronounced that Jen should be a nurse since she liked to help people. Surprisingly, Kelsii and Heather had agreed – although for different reasons. As much as the idea appealed to Jen on some level, she ended up admitting to herself that she hated science and that was why she hadn't signed up for any science courses her senior year. So that road was closed.

Evee's tactics had turned out to be much more substantial. Her younger sister had decided that the best way for Jen to discover her dream career was to go to the library. Yes, that would be Evee's strategy. Jen loved to read just as much as Evee did, but Evee somehow ended up at the library more. The public library had become Evee's escape from their mom and the triplets over the years, so she alone knew how it could help Jen in her ongoing quest.

"Just trust me," she had said as she drove Jen to the library. Jen did, of course, and blindly let Evee lead her to the dim but airy archive of knowledge.

"Okay," Evee began as they walked into the library. "What's your favorite subject?"

"Wow – that's a tough one, Eves."

"It's necessary."

"All right…math."

"Math?" Evee sounded very skeptical.

"Ok, English?"

"Is that a question or a statement?" Evee was grinning now, slightly exasperated with her flustered sibling.

"You tell me."

"Well, don't you have any favorite subjects?"

"I really like history and English. Truly. But I don't know if I want to do anything with them."

"Did you ever take those tests that judge what they think you should be?"

"Yeah," Jen said hesitantly. She sort of didn't want to tell her best friend and younger sister what they had told her.

"And what did they say?"

Jen remained silent. Evee cocked her famous eyebrow.

"Fine. They said I should be a stay-at-home mom." Evee's face contorted. It was like laughter and disgust were having a miniature battle in her facial features. "Not that I don't want to have kids. I love kids. I just…"

"Yeah, I gotcha. I know, Jen. Just – promise me – just don't tell Mom, ok?"

"Yeah, you've got my pinky-promise on that."

* * *

Another thing Jen thought about when she wasn't thinking about Chad and how nice it felt to be held by him was Evee's building drama. Her relationship with George Carson had escalated, and, as handsome and genuine as the man seemed, Jen had to admit that she wasn't sure he was the guy for Evee. She wasn't judging him, she really wasn't. Or at least, that was what she continually told herself whenever she had such wayward thoughts. Maybe it was just because Jen had Chad and she was satisfied. It was probably also due to the fact that Jen was not a fan of the brooding Byronic hero. She thought they were too self-absorbed really.

Not that George seemed self-absorbed at all. He was very kind to the family as a whole and endured all of the oddities with good humor. Jen did not, however, see him as the kind of man that could be taken advantage of by anyone. So when Evee told Jen, George Carson's past, Jen was shocked to say the least.

"Did you enjoy the party, Evee?"

"Mm." Jen looked more closely at her sibling. Evee wasn't garrulous like Kelsii or Julia about social events, but she usually wanted to talk about something. She was the talker and Jen was the listener. Often the subject was personality examination – a very common, very interesting, and occasionally very biting commentary.

Jen thought to prompt Evee but decided to wait for her to begin first instead. When she did speak, it all came out in one long gush.

"George told me last night that Will Darcy is the reason he's in college late and solely on federal aid." Jen had to sit a minute or two to digest that information fully. When she finally did speak – very tentatively – Jen didn't say the first thing that she would have expected to come out first.

"Federal aid isn't a sin, Eves…"

"Ok. Sorry, that didn't come out right. See, evidently George grew up basically in the Darcy household in England and Will's dad left him some money. Well, when Mr. Darcy died – Will wouldn't give it to him to go to Cambridge."

"Wait! He was accepted at Cambridge? That is so neat. I'd love to visit Cambridge and Oxford sometime!" Jen had a bit of a thing for English History. Plus, the girl just liked to travel.

"_Anyway_," Evee continued, overriding her sister's comment. "Will wouldn't give him the money. Some legal loopholes or something. So now George is going to our college on financial aid when he could have much more." Evee looked very sad about the whole thing. "Oh Jen, that's so messed up isn't it? I mean! This guy could have had a world class education and gotten a real leg up in the world and Darcy deprived him of it."

"Are you sure about all of this, Evee?" Jen herself felt a little reticent to believe it. Though she had seen little of Will Darcy in all actuality, she could not bring herself to think such base things of him. "And what motive would Will have for depriving George of that opportunity? It doesn't make any sense!"

"I suppose Will was jealous. From the way George told it, Mr. Darcy loved George like a son. Maybe Will did it to be spiteful."

"I don't know…" Jen let her thought trail away as she pulled a night shirt on over her head.

"He gave me hard, cold facts Jennifer! Indisputable circumstances!" Jen realized that Evee was really worked up about this. Her face had become more flushed and her eyes were bright.

"Look," Jen sighed. She didn't know how to phrase her next question without offending her sister. There were only a few occasions that Jen and Evee had been on the outs and Jen was not so eager to repeat them. They had been uncomfortable while they had lasted. "You like George don't you?"

"Maybe," Evee blushed as she spoke. Evee hardly ever – no, never blushed. "A little…"

"Don't you think that that might be coloring your perception of the matter? Don't you think you can't really be objective?" Jen cringed as she thought of how Evee could respond.

"Don't you think that you are too sugary sweet to judge any situation?" Evee's voice came out snappy and exasperated. The two girls stared at each other for a moment. Jen felt near tears – a rare occurrence, even for her. Evee had certainly never said _that_ to her. And _that_ hurt. But Jen supposed that it had been only fair. She had after all delved into Evee's emotions for counter-arguments.

"Sorry, Eves." Evee sighed.

"I'm sorry too." Evee looked down at the coverlet of the bed on which she sat and started to fidget with a loose string. "I know what you mean. I guess you are right in a way. I think I like George a little and I'll admit I'm more inclined to believe him than not," Evee took a breath here and went on much more powerfully. "But how could it not be true?! How could it?"

"I don't know Evee, I don't know." From there on, Jen accepted the tale of George Carson as the victim of the aloof Will Darcy, whom everyone in town but Jen seemed to dislike. At any rate, she didn't debate it with Evee again.

As for Evee's drama, there was still the matter of Colin Wilson, who followed Evee around as though they were attached at the hip. To her credit, Evee dealt with him kindly, if not somewhat impatiently. Jen secretly suspected that the time of his move would soon be at hand and she knew that Evee guessed this also because the curly haired girl began to avoid being around Colin alone more and more.

* * *

As the day of the Sheltons' party drew nearer and the weeks till fall break approached alarmingly fast, Jen saw Chad frequently. After the initial meeting the day after their first kiss, which was filled with an awkward silence or two until they got to talking naturally again, they were completely normal around each other. Jen still blushed whenever Kelsii and her Mom took it upon themselves to speculate about the entire relationship, but nothing special was really happening. They'd had dinner together a couple of times, gone to see a movie or two. They'd just chilled in his basement and played old video games like Mariokart and Super Smash Brother's Melee. He'd also taken her Frisbee golfing, which hadn't worked out too well for her. He'd beaten her soundly. Jen's excuse was that she just didn't have the arm power for it, but Chad kept on insisting that she was doing fine. She would have felt more than a little depressed about it if he hadn't been helping her a lot of the time. And help involved up close and personal lessons on stance and how to hold the Frisbee. Of course, there had been that incident where she had actually hit him in the head with the Frisbee.

"Oh my gosh!"

_Swoosh, THUNK, vrum, vrum, vrum…_

"OW!" Jen ran over to Chad apologizing the whole way.

"I'm so, so, so sorry! I don't know if I could ever apologize enough!" Jen reached up to touch the place on the back of his head where the disc had hit. His ruffled up hair was so soft. She was feeling a very strong urge to scrunch her fingers in his hair and just massage her hands through it.

"It's okay." Jen brought her focus back to Chad's face and looked at him disbelievingly. "Ok, so it hurts but I'm fine."

"I really am sorry though…"

"You know you apologize too much. It's okay, I don't care. Plus I already know you're sorry." He winked at her and she smiled back. "While we're in this position though, do you think you could kiss it and make it better?" He smiled at her, but it wasn't a "Colin Wilson" leering, nothing, weird smile. It was just a nice smile. For a "nice" smile though, it sure sent tingles all over her hands and up and down her spine. They were standing in the middle of a Frisbee golf course – in a forest. What a great place to be when your boyfriend asks you to kiss his "wound."

Her hands still holding his head, she pulled him down a little on her level and placed several very light kisses on the spot where she had caused damage. Releasing him a little bit, she let go of his head slightly but had to grab back on to his neck when he picked her up slightly to hold her against his chest as he placed ridiculously light kisses on different parts of her face – it was like he was tickling her face with his lips. She started to giggle a little but stopped when he kissed her on the mouth.

There was no good way for Jen to describe how she was feeling. All she really thought was that this seemed so perfect. It was firmer than their first kiss but not too hard and she loved the way his hands were holding each side of her face as if he wanted to hold that part of her very close.

"Hey there." He was still holding her face in his hands. Jen noted that she really liked his hands – they were piano hands and calloused from use but they felt great up against her skin.

"Hi," she replied. "Don't you think this would be weird if anyone stumbled in on us, Chad?"

"Probably."

"Shouldn't we – um – move on now then?"

"Probably." But the discs sat on the ground forgotten, and neither Jen nor Chad bothered picking them up. Randomly, Jen reflected that she loved his jaw line. Not that that was strange at all…

They eventually made it to the end of the course with no more mishaps or distractions. For Jen, the kiss pretty much made up for the misery of losing.

* * *

Finally the day of the party arrived and Jen was excited and ecstatic but she kept her cool. Her mom was freaking out enough for the whole family. She seemed to see this party as a way of acknowledging Jen. Jen didn't really get where her mom got that idea from. She hadn't even been the one who had asked for it. That had been Kelsii and Julia's doing.

Colin was also flustered and excited. That afternoon he had announced that he hoped that he would be able to have the pleasure of dancing with all of his cousins that night. Then he had turned – in Jen's eyes, as if in slow motion – to Evee to request the first opportunity especially.

This peeved Evee off even though she assented in a _very _neutral tone. Jen had an idea that she was looking forward to seeing George Carson at the party that night. She also noticed that Evee was taking especial care about what she planned on wearing. Jen could easily sympathize with her sister. She would much rather spend the evening with George over Colin – interesting as their cousin was. Of course, given the broader choice, she would take Chad Shelton over both of them…

**And I bet you know what's coming next… Thanks for reading! I love looking at my stats and seeing more numbers. Also, I know that whole job conversation is sort of weak but I wanted to make this story about high school life too, not just about the romance. In the next chapter as you can guess there will be a party and two "offers."**


	10. A Ball and a Boy

**Sorry, I'm so late in posting this. I had some trouble with this chapter, plus I felt like I had to keep going so I could fulfill the prediction of the two proposals.**

**I have not given, received, or witnessed any unauthorized aid on this work. Oh wait that's the school honor pledge – sorry. I am not Jane Austen, and I do not claim her plot line.**

Jen tugged her shirt up as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was a bit too low for her tastes. She tore it off hurriedly and picked up another one. Jen went through several more outfits before Evee came in.

"Are you checking up on me or what?" Jen asked calmly as she stripped off another piece of clothing.

"Maybe. Or maybe I'm just trying to escape Mom. She keeps telling me to 'take care of' Colin tonight. Like he needs taking care of," Evee scoffed.

"Well, he is sort of shy you know." Jen had finally decided on her blue skirt and began to layer several white shirts.

"No he isn't! He's just different!" Evee was fuming. Jen didn't doubt that this was because of their mom's insistence that Evee was in charge of showing Colin around. "He's such a prude," Evee grumbled as she rummaged through a drawer.

"Hey he's a nice guy Eves," Jen defended Colin half-heartedly. He was like a less tolerable and somehow much more embarrassing version of Heather. Evee made a face at her older sister as she pulled a hair band out of the drawer. Jen shrugged. Personally she agreed with Evee but she didn't like to say it out loud. She considered herself, or at least fancied herself, a fairly tolerant person. Jen was pulling on her black jacket when a lot of loud laughing emerged from the hall and several heavy thumps were heard. Evee looked at Jen askance but just as Jen was about to pull open the door, Kelsii fell through it wearing only her jeans and her bra.

"OMG! Colin's face – was – priceless," Kelsii gasped out in between her bursts of laughter. Jen heard a snort from behind her and looked to see Evee trying to stifle her giggles. Jen opened her mouth to ask where the poor guy had gone, but Kelsii had already whipped out the door.

_It's going to be a very interesting night_, Jen thought to herself as she and Evee left the room, Evee still giggling.

* * *

Somehow, Jen and Evee had convinced their mom to let them drive Jen's car to the Shelton's so that they wouldn't all be cramped in the same vehicle. Myra had agreed on the condition that they take Colin with them. Jen had quickly assented but Evee seemed torn. In the end, Jen hadn't let Evee argue at all and had just dragged her to the car. On the ride over, Colin prattled on about how much he liked to be social and how encouraging Katherine Burgess was of these skills. The fair woman often threw numerous Soirees herself. Privately, Jen thought that Caroline Shelton's bash was likely to be different from Katherine Burgess' soirees. Evee sat in the front seat and pointedly stared out the window the whole way as she kept from responding to any of Colin's advances. The only movement from her that Jen saw in the whole trip was when she twitched when Colin's hand somehow found itself just above her shoulder. Jen quickly and "accidentally" knocked his hand away when she turned around to ask him something. When she turned back around, she thought she saw a slight smile on Evee's face.

Jen felt herself getting nervous as she walked slightly ahead of Evee and Colin; their cousin had immediately monopolized Evee with his less than scintillating conversation when he had clumsily helped her out of the car. Jen slowed down and waited for them to catch up before she reached out and rang the doorbell. On the threshold stood Caroline Shelton. Her light blonde hair was died black Jen noted as she tried to get a good look at Caroline – the hall was very dark. She thought that Caroline might be wearing tinted contacts – surely her eyes weren't that violet _naturally_?

"Hey, girl!" Caroline threw her arms around Jen. "Hi, Evee."

"Hi, Caroline." Evee sounded less than thrilled to see Caroline. She was even less enthusiastic when she introduced Colin who was nudging her in the ribs ostentatiously. "And this is our distant cousin, Colin Wilson."

"Oh." Caroline still sounded hyped as she moved slightly to the music in the background. "That's cool I guess; come in." The three crossed the threshold and Caroline pointed them into another room. "Everyone's in there already. Have fun!"

"Thanks, Caroline," Jen said nervously as the girl disappeared. The room was dark except for some of the flashing lights. There was a DJ at the end of the long space and a bar to one side. Jen gulped. This wasn't exactly her scene. She began searching the room for Chad. Somehow Evee and Colin had disappeared from her side. Jen turned on the spot and bumped into someone.

"Sorry," she muttered as the unknown person grunted and moved toward the dance floor. Jen felt lost. She didn't see anyone she knew – not even from school. Turning around again, Jen saw the rest of her family being welcomed, non too graciously, by Caroline. If this wasn't her scene she didn't know what her dad would do. Instead of trying to make her way to the rest of them, however, she turned in the opposite direction into the crowd to look for someone else. She loved her family but she wasn't exactly planning on spending the evening with them.

Jen was refusing to admit it but she was becoming unnecessarily peeved that Chad wasn't looking for her – or at least that he hadn't found her yet. Having absolutely no right to be peeved, Jen fumed even more at herself. Maybe she was being possessive now. Was she being a bad girlfriend? Jen registered a slight shock as she thought about that word: girlfriend. This was all so confusing to her.

_Why should it be? You like to be around him. He makes your skin tingle – in a good way. He makes you smile, really big. You love talking to him. He's comfortable. _Jen grimaced as she thought that that statement could be taken more ways than the obvious. _So,_ the voice inside her head continued persistently despite Jen's…wayward thoughts. _What's the problem, Jen?_ She shrugged mentally. Admittedly, her other boyfriend experiences _had_ been rather juvenile, but she had never asked herself those questions before. Jen had just dated last time; they hadn't really meant anything. She winced at the thought. That sounded so cold and callous. She had liked them as friends but they weren't much more than that. It hadn't felt especially good to hold Jason's hand or to hug Ryan – just normal. _So what does that make Chad? _Jen thought back. _My third "boyfriend?" No way am I an authority on this! How am I supposed to know? What does it even matter right now? It's not like we're engaged!!_

Maybe to get away from the questions she couldn't answer as well as the physical press, she spun on her heel to make her way out of the jostling crowd and ran into somebody – again. Jen opened her mouth to make an uncharacteristically annoyed and biting retort when she saw Chad. She didn't realize that she must have still had her mouth open until he leaned down and kissed her. She was doing this much more than she usually did. Jen had restricted Jason to a bare minimum of kisses. But with Chad she didn't mind. She sighed against his mouth and tried not to think that there were tons of people standing around them. Instead Jen focused on the way her heart expanded when he looked at her like he wanted to kiss her again; the way her stomach got butterflies when his eyes were completely focused on hers; the way her skin tingled when she felt his breath against her skin.

_Wait, does this make me,_ she hated the word, _a slut? Am I loose for wanting to kiss him like this? Not that it's that bad._ For a minute she felt his hands on her waist but then Jen saw him blush and raise his hands to her back instead. She smiled but didn't say anything; Jen had to admit that the small gesture made her feel a little more comfortable and made her trust him – and herself – more. _No, I'm definitely _not _a slut._

"Hey, why didn't you find me sooner?" She leaned back from him a little but he kept her hand clasped tightly in his.

"I was trying to you know, but I didn't think you'd want me to interrupt the song to ask if you were here yet." Jen blushed; no, that definitely would have been awkward. "Um, do you want to dance?" Jen looked at the crowd and then at Chad.

"I don't know how to break it to you, but I'm not that great at dancing to this type of music."

"Me neither." She looked at him skeptically. "Seriously, but Will said to just imitate everyone else."

"Wow, what would Will know about it?"

"Don't ask me. I always thought the only dancing he knew was the kind you learn in etiquette school. Maybe he was quite the disco child growing up."

"Yeah, that would be a real shocker." Jen looked at the dance floor again and caught sight of Will and Evee talking on its fringes. Jen watched anxiously as she saw Evee sigh before the two of them disappeared in the crowd, Evee leading in high dudgeon. Jen looked back at Chad who was also staring at the spot where Evee and Will had gone. Taking advantage of the opportunity to study him in detail, Jen noted that the way his shirt was partly unbuttoned and the way she could clearly see the undershirt beneath made him look incredibly sexy. He looked back at her and smiled mischievously. "What?" Jen threw this single syllable query at him uncertainly; she wasn't sure she trusted her boyfriend even if he was the nicest guy she knew.

"Would it be too much of a cliché for me to suggest we go outside instead if we don't want to dance in here?"

"As romantic as that sounds, yes, it would be!" He attempted to look crestfallen. He glared at her for a second and then simply grabbed her hand and headed for the French doors.

"Chad!" Jen laughed as she wrenched her hand from his before running to catch up. Instead, she hooked a finger through one of the belt loops of his jeans. Now that she thought about it, she should have just held onto his hand; people kept buffeting her. Besides, it probably would have been less _intimate_ on her part. When they finally got outside, the music had changed.

"Great!" Jen gave an exaggerated sigh. "Now there is absolutely no point for being out here." The music was much slower. She couldn't hear the words from where they were; she couldn't tell if she had heard it before or not.

Chad, however, simply rolled his eyes at her and hesitantly linked his hands around Jen's waist. She didn't reply and instead raised her arms to circle them around his neck. He smiled at her acceptance. Slowly, they began to move to the rhythm of the song. As they turned, she wove her fingers through his hair. From where she was standing, she could smell his soap; it smelled a little bit spicy, and she liked it.

She suddenly realized that they were no longer dancing at all.

"Jen?"

"Mmm." Her heart skipped a beat as his breath tickled her ear.

Before he could say anything else, however, they heard a loud voice coming from inside, which was saying something when Jen considered the music playing in the background.

"They look so cute together don't they, Evelyn?" Jen looked up to try to spot Evee and the owner of the carrying voice, though she already suspected who it might be. She was right. There stood Annie's dad; he was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet as he made weird head bobbing moves to the music. Evee, who was standing with Will, -- they had obviously been interrupted in the middle of dancing – looked peeved and made some noncommittal comment before turning back into the crowd. Will followed her.

Jen continued to gaze at the spot, and, finally, Mr. Lynn looked up and met her eyes before coloring slightly. Due to the darkness, however, and her over-suspicious mind at that moment, Jen acknowledged that she could have simply imagined his blush of shame as he realized he had been caught gossiping by the subject. She didn't know what made her do it and she didn't know why, but she continued to stare at Mr. Lynn until he broke eye contact with her and retreated back inside. After a minute, Jen realized that her own face felt rather hot and turned back only to see Chad studying her intently. Instead of meeting his gaze, she imitated her recent victim and looked away. She was embarrassed – for her neighbors, for herself, for him, for them…

While the mini-drama had unfolded, the music had once again changed and it was now lively and upbeat. Jen, however, frowned deeper and attempted to draw away from Chad. While he released her slightly, Chad did not let go of her completely and continued to hold both of her hands in his.

"I'm sorry."

Both looked at each other in surprise at the remark which had been uttered simultaneously. Then they laughed. They laughed at each other and at the music and at the crowd and Mr. Lynn and even Evee and Will who would probably stick up for both of them.

"It's okay though, you know that, right?" Chad asked when they had stopped chuckling. "I mean, is it okay?"

"Yeah it's fine!" Jen almost shouted at him in her haste to reassure him of her mutual feelings. "It's just – I'm just – I'm never sure about _anything_. And I want to _be_ sure. You know?"

"I guess so." He laced his fingers through those of her right hand and brought up his free hand to gently touch her face. "But I'm sure. I really like you." Chad looked so innocent as he said that. But his physical appearance, one of strength and sexy masculinity, which made her tremble just a little, completely contradicted any naiveté present in his sweet blush. For some reason, this childishness and maturity at the same time made her heart beat wildly, as if it would burst with ecstasy.

"I like you, too, Chad." How many times had she said that to him when they were just talking? Had she told him too many times already? She felt like she'd never let him know at all, however, and that's probably why she felt compelled to whisper it again then as he smiled down at her, his eyes making her feel wonderful. "I like you, too."

* * *

Jen was still smiling stupidly the next morning at breakfast. Evee was not. At their mom's request, Evee had dutifully danced with Colin. She had spluttered about it last night after they got home: "clumsy" and "touchy-feely" had been among the few words Jen had been able to distinguish. Evee had also been desperately disappointed that George hadn't been there as she let on to her older sister; she hadn't said it straight out, but Jen knew her sister well enough to decipher her hints. Jen had a sneaking suspicion as well that Evee was confused about Will. She had told everyone that she would never dance with him after all. Then she did! If Jen had issues, Evee was bound to have double the drama – that's just who Evee was.

Furthermore, Evee had had a run-in with Caroline. As much as Jen tried to like Caroline she felt free to note that the girl could be just a little blunt with her opinions, as if they were fact. Evidently, Caroline had laid before Evee the complete list of guilts of George Carson before Evee: he was basically an orphan and a dependent on the Darcy's and on financial aid. He was also somehow involved in a large scandal, which she incidentally did not know the details of. After witnessing the encounter, Jen had been hesitant to tell her younger sister that she had asked Chad about it as well. He had seemed uneasy in relating anything to her at all when she mentioned George. The circumstances were, however, just as unknown to him as they were to his sister. He did know that it involved Will and his family and that George had been in the wrong – badly. Will didn't like to talk about it much according to Chad. And Chad in return did not ask him. Jen had merely smiled at that response. Somehow she had managed to become the girlfriend of the nicest, and sexiest, guy in existence. Sure he wouldn't tell her all of the details of what she wanted to know, but it was only because he _couldn't_.

Jen had finally bucked up herself up to relate what Chad had told her to Evee, but Evee had laughed it to scorn though she said she didn't doubt that Chad was telling what he thought was the truth. Evee simply didn't trust his friend. (She had refused to say Will's name after she had danced with him.)

Heather was also still in a bad mood. She had convinced or, dare Jen think it, tricked the DJ into putting on some of her music that evening. The music certainly wasn't bad, but it wasn't dance material either. As Evee so charitably put it, "it bordered on emo." When the second song came on and Heather had looked like she was seriously considering karaoke, Ben Singleton had pulled his daughter off the stage. Jen felt rather bad for Heather herself though she wished her younger sister would get the hint and learn not to try things like that at parties. Jen would have thought that Heather would have noticed that people generally didn't respond well. At other times, Heather's music was considered "nice" and "interesting" and the neighbors sometimes like to indulger her desire to sing along or to have an open mike night for poetry, but – not a bash like Caroline Shelton's.

Consequently, breakfast was a jumbled affair. What with Jen smiling serenely and detachedly, Evee fuming, Heather sulking, and Kelsii and Julia chattering, the hour was one of utter confusion.

To Jen's great dismay, Myra seemed to find it necessary to make a comment about every minute of the night before. Unfortunately, most of these conjectures had to do with what Jen and Chad were doing. Jen flushed furiously at her mom's remarks about her and Chad's status as an "item." Since when did Myra Singleton use the word "item?" That was a Kelsii or Julia word.

Before Jen could say anything to her mom about not bringing it up so much, Colin interrupted the flow of conversation.

"Might I have a private word with you, Evee?" Jen couldn't resist rolling her eyes at this oh-so-formal entreaty. Jen watched the scene as Evee's eyes narrowed suspiciously to slits and Myra's eyes widen into glowing orbs. Myra opened her mouth, but Evee beat her to it.

"Um, Colin, could it wait till I'm finished with breakfast? I'm almost done, I promise." Jen mentally applauded Evee for being polite when she was positive that what Evee really longed to say was much more negative and rejecting. Their mom, however, would have none of it.

"No, you can finish later, Evee. Why don't you go talk to Colin now." What would have been a question came out as an order. To make sure Evee obeyed her, Myra jumped up and began to hustle her out of the room; Colin followed with a very awkward looking spring in his step. From the instant they left the room, Jen knew nothing good could happen.

She was right. Minutes later, Jen heard a door slam and looked over the banister to see Evee stomping up the stairs.

Colin followed Evee into the corridor and stood looking up at her like a lost puppy as she steadily climbed. Suddenly a shriek came from the kitchen and this time Myra Singleton entered the hallway. She had only to look at the scene to suppose her cry of despair was warranted. Glaring at Evee, she grabbed her by the upper arm and frog-marched her charge the rest of the way up the stairs and into the computer room where their dad was. Colin looked extremely uncomfortable as he remained where he was, still gazing at the stairs dejectedly.

Jen was uncomfortable in this situation to say the least. She did not want to be stuck watching Colin go through the stages of despair while listening to increasingly raised voices emitting from the room behind her. Should she leave then? She could go catch up on some reading for history instead of witnessing the unfolding drama. Her decision made itself for her, however, when the door opened and Evee sallied forth looking triumphant. She walked to her room without even a glance at Colin, which Jen personally thought was harsh. Colin had lost his puppy dog expression though and mounted the stairs himself with new found determination. Not wanting to miss what might happen next, Jen sat down with her back against the wall to wait. Colin did not disappoint her; soon he emerged from his guest room with his rolling suitcase and his plastic clothes bag grumbling under his breath. Smiling at him as he descended, Jen began to count under her breath. Precisely five seconds later, her mom rushed out of the room where she had been wailing and flew at Colin and urged him not to leave.

"I know where I am not wanted, Ma'am."

"But you are wanted here very much, Colin. You know Ben and I love having you here!"

"But I am not wanted but the one I desire," Colin sighed melodramatically. Jen once again rolled her eyes at his antics. "So I shall leave."

"Where will you go?" Mrs. Singleton threw this question at her husband's cousin as if she expected it to be his downfall. It might have been, but at that moment the doorbell rang and Annie Lynn entered the room.

"Hi Myra!" Annie's eyes scanned the room before she said warily, "Uh, is this a bad time? I just wanted to come see Evee…"

"I have offered my advances to your esteemed friend, Annie, and she has rejected them. I no longer feel comfortable in this house." Mrs. Singleton looked near tears and Jen felt compassion well up in her for her mother. Her mom just thought this way and it broke her heart for her matches not to work out. Jen silently wondered what her mom would do if she and Chad ever broke up. For that matter, what would she do? Annie's voice broke through Jen's thoughts.

"I guess you could stay with my family if it's alright with them, Colin." Myra looked even more distraught at this suggestion of Annie's but refrained from saying any more. In the end, Colin left with Annie, who never went upstairs to talk to Evee, and Jen went into Evee's room to find out what had happened.

* * *

In short, Colin had asked Evee if she would consider getting to know him better. That was all he'd asked her directly anyway. According to Evee, who was indignant over the whole affair, he had insinuated her transferring to another high school and then maybe moving in with him after graduation.

"How did you turn him down?"

"Well, I was nice at first. I just told him I didn't really think I was his type and that I suspected that he wasn't my type either. He kept going on about it though and when he had finished talking about Katherine Burgess' telling him he needed to settle down" – here Evee snorted eloquently – "he told me that he wanted to prove how much he 'admired' me already. He honestly didn't believe me! I'm serious. He thought it was maidenly modesty or something, and honestly, since when have I ever been less than straightforward?"

"Exactly how frank were you, Evee?"

"Well, I didn't tell him I think he's boring, embarrassing, and no fun if that's what you mean. He's got no sense of humor, romance, or propriety to speak of for all his pretension," Evee huffed. "Dad stuck up for me though. I think Mom was ready to put me on a plane with him tomorrow if that's what he wanted. It's not like I was going to marry him, Evee! That's just so weird."

Jen agreed and hugged Evee sympathetically. The whole situation was ridiculous when she took a giant step back to reflect on it. Since it came from her family and their small society, however, Jen had to admit it wasn't too much of a stretch.

Jen didn't hear anymore about it from Evee over the next couple of weeks. Myra made up for Evee's silence in abundance: she mourned Colin's absence loudly whenever Evee was in the room. Consequently, Evee took to being out of the house more and more. It wasn't that hard to do with all of the work they had at school. For a while, Evee and Jen hung out in the library but finally decided to take their homework to the park to keep from getting depressed. As much as each girl liked the library, the dim lighting and the smell was enough to make any book worm go bonkers.

It was the first week of September when Evee almost lost it. Jen was reading for English while Evee was doing Pre-Cal when Evee suddenly growled before burying her face in her book.

"What's wrong, Evee?"

"Nothing."

"If it's pre-cal, do you need some help? Though, that might not be the best idea; I haven't had it in a year." Jen let the sentence trail to an end. Evee sat up and began doing her homework again as if nothing had happened. Jen, in turn, looked back at her text book.

"ARGH!" Jen almost dropped her book in surprise. She had barely found where she had left off in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" when Evee had let out the frustrated noise.

"Annie's dropping out of school after Christmas!!"

"Wait – what? Why?"

"Because of stupid Colin!" Jen blanked for a minute. What on earth was Evee talking about? Had her beloved sister finally gone crazy? What did Annie's dropping out have to do with Colin? And then it hit her.

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. Took you long enough," Evee huffed. Jen began to apologize but Evee continued doggedly. "What is the girl thinking? Dropping out and getting her GED just for some _guy_? And not just any guy. COLIN – the most boring, humorless, pretentious--"

"You know Annie has never liked school, Evee. She's always talked about getting her GED." Privately, Jen thought it was pretty stupid – especially since Annie had been taking AP US. "Besides, Colin isn't a bad guy. He's nice and he's wholesome."

"HE'S A FRICKIN RICE CAKE!" Jen winced and out of the corner of her eye saw several mothers glare at Jen and Evee as they turned around to walk in the other direction with their kids. Jen gave a timid little wave before turning back to Evee who had turned as red as a tomato. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I just can't believe she's doing this."

"Yeah." Once again, Jen found herself agreeing with Evee and hugging her sympathetically. Jen fervently hoped that this wouldn't become a habit and that it would never be the other way around…

**Thanks to Catherine and Elizabeth for the rice cake suggestion. Hope you all liked it!**


	11. Crazy Days

**I am not Jane Austen and I do not take credit for her excellent ideas. I probably won't be updating for a while. AP Exam on Thursday as in tomorrow!! Thanks to Jakeline for being faithful in reviewing!**

Myra's moaning had perhaps reached an all new high. Or maybe Jen meant low. Whichever it was, Mrs. Singleton didn't care if Evee was in the room or not. As long as _someone_ was in the vicinity, she would complain loudly about Annie, Evee, Colin, Evee, Colin _and_ Annie, Evee, Annie's parents, and Evee. To Jen's relief, Evee had given up the library altogether. For a while, Jen had suspected that Evee would gladly spend the majority of her time there if it meant staying away from Myra. Evee proved to be herself, however, when she came to the conclusion that if she died in the library, it would only make her mom perversely happy. Instead she took to spending more and more of her time with George Carson, who was the first subject Evee and Kelsii had completely agreed on in a couple of years: "He's sweet! And sooo hot!" To be honest, Jen didn't know George that well. Not that she had really tried; if Evee thought he was cool though, who was she to argue? Besides, she was spending a lot of her free time these days doing homework. (Wasn't that against senior rules or something?) And when she wasn't studying, sending in college applications, or spending time with Evee or other school friends, she was just hanging out with Chad.

It was funny that their dates had taken on more of the feel of just hanging out. It was like they were old buddies who just happened to like to hold hands or kiss in public more often than was natural. He had told her that he really liked her, but sometimes her insecurities just surfaced and she couldn't push them away. Minnie Shuford had suggested when Jen had started high school to make a list of them so that she would recognize them and try to get over them. The list had started out as pretty juvenile, but since then the bullets had become more serious (to her anyway, though some were pretty superficial). At the top of the piece of printer paper the problems were enumerated on was written in almost childish handwriting: **Faults**. Every time Jen saw that heading she snorted. She really was overly hard on herself.

I'm not social enough. (_Yeah, right. Mom fixed that in a hurry. But I really am more social now._)

I'm not doing well in science. (_Well that will never look up for you, Jen, so just move on with life_.)

I easily get jealous of others. (_Still have a problem with that._)

I'm rude. People must think I'm mean. (_Sometimes I am…_)

The list went on and on through little stupid things to the end:

I'm a dork.

I'm a nerd.

I'm too pretty.

The last point might sound egotistical and arrogant and maybe it was, but Jen hadn't meant it that way. But she was always wigged out that people didn't really like her because of who she was but because of her blonde hair and attractive face. Evee would have said it was all their mom's fault. A small part of her was also afraid that people didn't like her because her mom bragged about her so much. Both of those factors, once Jen had mulled over them long enough, led to her trying to be especially nice. _Here we go with the vanilla stuff again._

In reality, there were several other things that she hadn't put on the list that she probably should, such as her worries that she wasn't modest enough or nice enough. She was simply inadequate. This was what she felt when she wasn't with Chad anyway.

When Jen was with Chad, just talking, laughing, eating (the list could go on and on), she felt confident and correct. For example, when she went to Starbucks with him, she should have felt completely idiotic when he laughed at her but she didn't.

"What do you want, Jen?"

"I don't know. I don't like coffee." He grinned at her response.

"Why did you agree to come here then," he laughed as he rolled his eyes at her.

"Well, I like tea."

"Hippie."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not, you're thinking of Evee." Chad paused for a moment and the cashier looked at him with a dead face that clearly told Jen that if she didn't hurry up and order she would be drooling in five seconds.

"Oh yeah, I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. Tall shaken iced tea lemonade. Um, passion flavor." The girl's eyes snapped back open as she rang up the total. Then Jen saw the sign on the counter – the kind that says you get ten cents off if you can answer the question.

"Who originally sang 'Bridge Over Troubled Water?'"

"Dude, Chad, do you know this?" Jen was almost hopping up and down. Sometimes she got hyper like this. It was the Evee side coming out in her.

"I think so, hold on my chem. teacher played that artist all the time. It was so annoying." Chad studied the ceiling as he tried to remember. His wallet was in his right hand and his left hand was halfway to the cashier with the money in it. "Starts with an s…"

"Simon and Garfunkel!" Jen exclaimed triumphantly.

"Yeah that's it! He played them all the time. Crazy, Scottie was," Chad explained as he finally gave the money to the now exasperated employee.

"Your chem. teacher's last name was Scottie?"

"No, that's his first name. Well, it was really Scot, but we loved to call him Scottie just to annoy him. We were supposed to call him Mr. Rhodes, but he just looked like more of a Scottie to me." Jen snorted elegantly at the last comment.

When they actually got their drinks, Jen took a sip and exclaimed that this was her new favorite drink.

"Wow, Chad! This is really good, trust me."

"Do you get it all the time?"

"No way, this is the first time I've ever had it and it's great!" He just laughed at her as she sipped it enthusiastically.

"You're so crazy. Well not as crazy as Evee."

"So am I too crazy or not crazy enough."

"You're just right." Jen smiled to herself as he blushed a little and took a swig of his coffee and she sipped some more of her drink.

* * *

When winter break was just a week or two away then, Jen was a little shocked to get a message on facebook that absolutely ruined her day. The first one was from Caroline Shelton.

_Hey Jens! Are you studying hard for exams? If you don't do well, look at it this way: it's not like grades will stop you from getting into a sorority! Poor you anyway, I hated school so much! I think all of my teachers were out to get me. Especially the Spanish Senorita. Crazy witch. Anyway, back to why I'm writing. I'm really just wanting to tell you good bye since we're moving out. Well, I'm not sure it's permanent but I'm not sure that we'll be back either, ya know? Chad got requested at some benefit banquet in London so we're all going with him. I'm so excited. I haven't been to London in years! There are so many great shops. If you're ever there, call me or something. Will's excited too. His sister (Juliana) is studying in London right now. She's only one (or is it two?) years younger than Will and she is so beautiful. I mean we're talking classic black hair, blue eyes, perfect skin, great tan! I'm not exactly sure what she's doing but I think it's all something to do with a research project. She goes to Oxford you know. Chad was really attached to her at the hip last time I saw them together. You could hardly separate them! She'd be like, "I want to go see a movie" and then he would be all "What movie? I'll go." It was adorable. And she has great taste. I don't understand why she didn't go to design school instead of toiling away in a library. But whatever. Of course, I can still beat her at throwing a party. I think I'll get her to help me pick out my dress for the benefit. I'm thinking blue… But, yeah, I'll really miss you Jennie! I'm so glad I got to know you. You're so sweet and awesome. Please call me sometime! We're leaving tomorrow so I don't think I'll get a chance to see you before we leave. Ta ta for now! xo_

Jen felt a zillion different emotions begin to bubble inside of her – she couldn't even begin to identify all of them. Before she could begin to even examine them – let alone label the wretched things – she saw a chat bubble come up on her facebook page. It was from Chad Shelton. Well, this was great. He could tell her everything she needed to know. Caroline had obviously said that his, for lack of a better word, crush on Juliana Darcy was in the past tense. But Jen wanted to make sure.

Chad Shelton: Hi.

Jen Singleton: Hey yourself.

Chad Shelton: So, I'm going to London for a while.

Jen Singleton: I heard.

Chad Shelton: From who?

Jen Singleton: Caroline. How long will you be gone do you think?

Chad Shelton: I don't know.

Jen Singleton: So what all are you going to do in London? Caroline mentioned a benefit. What's it for?

Chad Shelton: Oh yeah, go to that benefit. I think it's for awareness about Darfur or something. Not sure. I can't remember. Will's really happy about getting to see Juliana though. Me too, I haven't seen Jay in a while.

Jen Singleton: Cool.

Chad Shelton: Yeah, so I think we'll be there for a little bit but I'm not sure how long. I haven't really asked my travel agent. I got the invite, mentioned it, and my family took it from there! Like I said, Will is really pumped, even for him. Me too I guess.

Jen Singleton: I know how that is.

Chad Shelton: Anyways, I'm sorry I don't get to see you before we leave. It's all sort of rushed at the moment.

Jen Singleton: It's fine. I have homework I have to do.

Chad Shelton: Oh. Ok.

Jen Singleton: yeah

Chad Shelton: Well, bye I guess. Keep in touch, right?

Jen Singleton: Yep. Have a good trip then.

Chad Shelton: Bye.

Jen Singleton: Bye.

Jen logged off and shut the computer morosely. She didn't know how long she would be able to keep this from Evee and the rest of her family but it wouldn't be long. And right now, all she wanted was a good cry and a nap with her cat.


	12. Washing Up

Hey dudes, I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update

**Hey dudes, I'm sorry it's taking me so long to update. I just sort of wait around for a week to let the ideas mature and ripen before I write them at all. I know, it sounds a bit too much like I'm aging cheese…**

**I can't claim Jane Austen's original plot line. **

Jen sat up groggily; her blonde hair felt especially heavy in its lopsided ponytail and her right leg felt like pins and needles. Sherlock was snoozing gently next to her and for all the world looked at complete peace.

She just couldn't understand what had come over her. It took her a moment to really wake up and realize why she had gone to sleep in such a snit. Once she did, she hit her head in frustration and immediately winced as she jabbed herself in the eye.

Sure, Chad had left for New York. Or was it Washington? No, London. Did it really matter? Once Jen thought about it, this whole drama was ridiculous. So the guy she liked had gone off to London. Wasn't that his right? So he had been a little cold in telling her via internet. That was probably just the most convenient for him since he was busy. So Caroline had hinted that he liked Juliana Darcy. What could Jen say to that? Nothing. She could not refute that statement – no, that news, warning, alert, whatever. As silly as Caroline could sometimes be, Jen just didn't think that the girl would lie about something like that. Caroline had obviously seen what was going on inside her brother's head and then gently informed Jen. With something that serious, Jen knew Caroline would only mean to put her on her guard so she wouldn't get her heart broken. Caroline was obviously looking out for her friend. Obviously.

Her aching head brought her out of her reverie slightly, though she still felt tired and drained. Jen didn't like to think that she felt so worn out because she had cried herself to sleep about a guy who she'd only known for a month or so – three months actually. Fine, five whole months: that meant that she had begun applying to college and had finally shipped off her applications in that time period. A cousin had come and gone away with the promise of love from her sister's best friend. Her sister had fallen for a guy at the local college. Jen herself had been to a scholarship interview. (Chad had helped her prepare and then met her at Starbucks afterward.) Wow, it seemed long when she thought about it like that. And it was almost Christmas. She'd already thought about what she might get him for Christmas. Admittedly, she hadn't decided and therefore hadn't bought anything yet, but still. Now that seemed like a moot point. He would be in London, not Wittenburg, NC. And it would probably snow in London. Well, maybe not. Didn't it rain a lot in London? No, it was foggy. Jen rolled her eyes at herself. She could be random at the strangest times. And this was not the best time for randomness. Or maybe it was; those thoughts were certainly doing a great job in distracting her.

Mentally, Jen turned her mind back to her unfolding drama. The more she reasoned with herself, the more natural it all seemed. Chad did move a lot and it wasn't like he'd said anything about long term. They were just – in their own words – "together" – nothing more. They were dating, an item, but not a really serious item. They "liked" each other. Talk about declarations of undying affection.

Before Jen could have any more quiet time to herself, she was interrupted by a slamming door.

"Hi guys!" Evee's words floated up the stairs and into the girls' shared room. Jen sat there and fought the temptation to get up to lock the door before burying herself in her bed again. She just didn't think she could face Evee's endless optimism right now. Jen herself was usually the optimistic one while Evee was cynical and sarcastic, but the girl was perky in the afternoons – especially when Christmas break was approaching.

"Hello Evee. Where were you?"

"Hi Heather. I was at Annie's. She was telling me about her and Colin." Even from where she was situated, Jen could hear the very awkward silence punctuated only by their mom's loud complaints at the mention of Annie and Colin. ("That twit is going to get our money just because she married Colin! I can't stand to think about it! If only Evee had gone with him – the cousin whose father holds the majority of the stock in your dad's company! Stupid girl!") "And, um, how was your day Heather? How did you do on that presentation you had in English? What was it on?"

"Anne Bradford. It went well I suppose."

"Well that sounds great. Um, do you know where Jen is?" The blonde teen strained to hear the muffled voices properly so as to make out her younger sister's answer.

"She's upstairs. I was just about to take her some herbal tea."

"Why?"

_Yes, why? Do you know Heather?_

"Well, she was asleep but she looked not to good. Upset or something."

_Aw, Heather. Thanks so much sweetie! That's so nice of you. And perceptive. I never knew you would do that for me…_

"Oh, ok, I'll go see what's up. Um, do you want me, er, to take the tea or what?"

_Of course, Evee says that her herbal tea tastes awful. What on earth does she use? How could you mess up Celestial Seasons?_

"You can take it I guess."

"Ok." Seconds later, Jen could hear her sister's footfalls on the stairs, slowed by the tea she undoubtedly held in her hands. Since Evee wouldn't be able to see her because the stairs were at the other end of the hall, Jen made a snap decision to dart into the bathroom across the hall. Shutting the door stealthily, Jen flicked on the lights and examined herself in the mirror.

She didn't look as bad as she felt – thank goodness. Admittedly, she was a little blotchy and pale with bags under her eyes, but it could be worse. Jen grabbed an Olay face cleansing pad and wet it before lathering her face and rinsing it off; she didn't plan on being found as the poor, pitiful, weeping damsel in distress – by anyone. She knew that Evee would probably understand but Jen was in a very unusual mood for her: don't want sympathy. It was a little bit true. As tolerant as people liked to tell Jen she was, she had her limits and sometimes sympathetic looks just annoyed her. Sometimes they really helped. Well, most of the time they did. But when she was really upset (a lot of the time with herself) she did not want condolences and shoulder pats.

Finally Jen tossed the rag into the trash can and looked up in the mirror to see Evee standing in the doorway.

"Hiya."

"Hey, Heather sent you some tea."

"That was really nice of her."

"You might want to sniff it before you drink it."

Tentatively, Jen wafted the steam to her nose and gagged slightly. Evee nodded before grabbing the cup from Jen and dumping the contents in the sink.

"It's vile stuff."

"Sure smells like it though I suppose it's the thought that counts." Jen smiled at Evee but Evee was only waiting expectantly.

"Sooo….." Jen knew, and Evee knew it.

"Chad's gone. He and the rest of them are going to London."

Evee's mouth had formed a perfect "O." It would have been comical if the situation weren't so dramatic. Jen decided that it was funny anyway.

"How do you—"

"Caroline messaged me on Facebook. And then Chad told me on the chat."

Evee's momentary loss for words earlier did not return.

"Well, I'm sure he'll be back soon. Did he say?"

"Sort of. But Caroline was really very nice in writing to me. Evidently, Chad has liked Will's sister for a while and they'll be seeing her in London. Caroline was warning me."

"Stuff it, Jen. Chad likes you, not some little British brat."

"That's not fair, Evee! You don't even know Juliana! She could be really, really sweet."

"Yeah, but she's related to Will isn't she?" Jen fixed her sister with a half-hearted attempted at a glare. "Ok, but still. He definitely likes you, Caroline's just being an interfering—"

"Eve-eee," Jen whined.

"—jerk," Evee finished disjointedly. "She saw how much Chad likes you and she's dragging him away to hook him up with a girl he hasn't seen in years. He'll be back by spring break if not sooner. Trust me!" Evee looked determined beyond belief and Jen sighed in resignation. Honestly, she didn't really care at this point. Chad was gone and that was it. There was simply no point in moaning and groaning about it…

"I'm guessing Mom doesn't know, otherwise she'd be complaining about him instead of me!"

"Yeah, no. She doesn't. I haven't talked to her since I got home from school. She asked me why I wasn't at practice and I had to remind her that I wasn't in cheerleading anymore. Don't know how she forgets that, honestly."

"Dude, I think she knows. I think it's just her way of telling you to rejoin."

"Yeah, wait till she finds out you quit tennis."

"Oh man…"

* * *

A few nights later, Jen and Evee were watching _The Notebook_ -- partially Evee's idea, partially Kelsii and Julia's since they each thought it would help Jen somehow to watch a chic flick when she was sort of single.

"Why didn't you write me? Why? It wasn't over for me. I waited for you for seven years. And now it's too late!"

"I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you everyday for a year."

Jen sighed in frustration. How had she gotten roped into this? Before she could explore her inner soul for the answer, Evee turned to her and opened her mouth.

"Shhhh!"

Evee scowled in the direction of her shushers – Julia and Kelsii – before turning back to Jen and whispering.

"You don't have any plans for break, right?"

"No. I'd planned on staying home as usual."

"What if you visited Uncle Tim and Aunt Barbara?"

"Why?"

"Well, they're going to visit Kimberly…and Kim's in--"

"London."

"Yeah."

Jen contemplated it for a minute before smiling at her ever helpful, if not insistent, sister.

"I'm game."


	13. Wigged Out

**Yeah guys, I know I take forever. I really am sorry. It just takes me a while. **

**I am not Jane Austen (duh); I don't claim her plot line. Big whoop, moving on now.**

Jen looked at the GPS screen attached to the dashboard. Once upon a time, she had trusted the little machine that was the travel genie but one time it had taken her to a completely different location. She was not happy. Consequently, it was safe to say that she wasn't sure it was taking her to the right place now.

Finally, Jen recognized where she was as she pulled onto a street in the hidden suburbs of Charlotte which she recognized as her aunt and uncle's neighborhood. Jen sighed with relief and turned off the CD she had been listening to – Sara Bareilles, _Little Voice _– as she pulled into the driveway of their house – a much smaller and more beautiful one than the Singletons' in Jen's eyes. Hesitantly, she grabbed her purse and walked up to the doorway and rang the bell. She loved her aunt and uncle but she was a little bit nervous. As with everything else in her life, they were probably more familiar with Evee, who was naturally more outgoing and sociable – not that Jen was bitter about it. After all, she had managed to snag Chad Shelton: eligible bachelor, extreme hottie, goof extraordinaire. Jen smiled to herself at the thought of his big smile…

_

* * *

_

"I love how you get up amazingly early in the morning but then just take random naps. You're like an innocent catwoman or something. Do you want to go for seafood next time, Jen?" Half smile.

_

* * *

_

"Wow, you look just like a teacher in that outfit."

_"Shut up."_

_"Yes ma'am." Smirk._

_

* * *

_

"Your cat is licking my nose, Jen."

_"So?"_

_"So are you going to do anything and be nice or not?"_

_"He obviously thinks you're sweet."_

_"That isn't going to work." Grin._

_

* * *

_

"Your room is a mess."

_"Yeah, well, I wanted you to feel a little bit a home while I looked for my running shoes, Chad." Funny face behind her back._

_"I can see you in the mirror."_

_"Duh, Jen."_

_

* * *

_

"Hey Jen. Where's Caroline?"

_"We saw Will at the mall and she went off with him."_

_"Oh yeah. Will never lets me forget about that. She's been crazy about him for forever. She would be a stalker if…never mind, she is a stalker."_

_"Hey, she's not bad."_

_"No, I know, I love her but she's Will's stalker." _

_"Fine." Laugh and smile._

_

* * *

_

"You want to go lazer tagging with me and a group of friends, Chad?"

_"Would it be ok with them?"_

_"Why wouldn't it be?"_

_"Cause I can kick your butts."_

_"Psh, sure."_

_"Trust me, the only one who can beat me is probably Will."_

_"We'll see about that."_

_"Yep." Silly smile._

_

* * *

_

"You want to go get some ice cream?"

_"No."_

_"Why not, Jen? I love ice cream."_

_"Me too."_

_"Then why not?"_

_"I'm on a diet."_

_"That's stupid."_

_"Thank you."_

_"You're welcome. Where do you want to go?"_

_"TCBY."_

_"Not low-fat!"_

"_Deal with it." Sarcastic grimace._

* * *

"_Have you ever been to a Lacrosse game before?"_

"_No."_

"_Seriously?"_

"_Ye – Hey where did the ball go, Chad? Who has it?!" Good natured laugh._

_

* * *

_

"The dishwasher isn't opening, Jen!"

_"Here, I'll get it."_

_"That's bush league."_

_"What?"_

_"I'm supposed to be the man in this relationship."_

_"I think I'm allowed some feminist tendencies every now and then."_

_"Sure, whatever, I can still chop wood better than you."_

_"Jerk." Simultaneous laughter and that big goofy grin._

_

* * *

_

"What do you want to watch, Jen?"

_"I don't really care."_

_"Um, how about _Gladiator_?"_

_"Oh that's so sad… What about _Timeline_?"_

_"I thought you hated that one guy in it."_

_"Surfer dude? Yeah."_

_"Then why watch it?"_

_"Well, um--it's fun?"_

_"Never mind, forget I asked." Rolled his eyes and grimaced as she giggled._

* * *

Jen snapped back to herself when the neighbor's dog barked at her from across the street.

"Sorry," Jen huffed eloquently. Whatever Evee said, she really thought that she ought to get over Chad. It was just a bit of a fling. Jen doubted he had planned on a long term relationship, so why should she fantasize about one? If things didn't shape up in London – and she would not purposefully go out looking to change things – then she would just remember Chad as a really nice boyfriend and move on with life. Yeah, she could totally do that. No sweat.

"Jennifer!" Jen jumped a little at the unexpected sound of her name.

"Hey, Uncle Tim!" The door had swung open to reveal Tim Crews's person: wearing blue jeans, un-tucked t-shirt, no shoes, and a too-frilly apron. "Um – sorry – but what's up with--"

"Don't ask, sweetie. Come on in." As soon as she stepped inside the foyer, Tim enveloped her in a warm hug.

"Mmm, you smell good. Are you cooking something?"

"Grilling out back." Tim paused. "Well I must say I'm impressed."

"Why?"

"Evee would have been pestering me about my apron." Jen blushed a little; comparisons to her face were often in her favor and she didn't quite know how to take her uncle's blunt statement. "Oh sorry, I meant it as a compliment. Evee's got spunk but she can be pretty tiring sometimes. Not that you would ever think that."

"It's fine, really." Jen stood there a little dazed. She was having trouble deciding whether or not she was comfortable here. "So – um – do you need any help?"

"Maybe, but don't worry about it. Come into the kitchen though, that's where Barb is."

Jen followed Tim through the living room and into the sunny kitchen where a woman with graying auburn hair sat at the bar with a newspaper in hand.

"Hunny, what did Petrarch write? It's six letters." Tim looked at Jen and grinned as he mouthed, 'no clue.' Jen grinned back.

"It's sonnet, Aunt Barb."

"Hey Jen! Long time, no see girl! Ready to have fun in London?" As Jen looked at her aunt, she smiled. Her aunt's eyes were warm with welcome and she felt all of her insecurities drift away. They were glad to have her.

Airports stressed Jen out. Maybe it was all the movement and the feeling of constant chaos. Perhaps the impression of unavoidable lateness got to her. All Jen knew was that every time she stepped foot in an airport to actually go somewhere, she just freaked.

Jen wiped her sweaty palms against her jeans for what felt like the fifth time that minute. She felt conspired against. To borrow her mom's phrase, this ordeal was too hard on her "poor nerves." Jen snorted at her own antics and took a couple deep breaths as she sat down next to her aunt and uncle and dropped her luggage to the floor. So far she had refused to admit it but she wasn't just wigged out by the airport. Her stress levels, always unstable as level headed as she might try to appear, were soaring to new heights and she had a sneaking suspicion that this was because of why she was going to London. Of course, she might never see him there at all. She might not see any of them; London was definitely a big city. If Jen knew Evee though, Evee would email her furiously until she made her move, which would include finding out where they were and then making contact.

_You make "them" sound like they're fish or something,_ Jen groaned at herself.

"What's wrong?" Evidently, Barb had overheard Jen in her distress.

"Airports wig me out." Barbara cocked an elegantly plucked eyebrow at her niece. The gesture looked so uncannily like Evee that Jen burst into laughter. Barbara smiled and rolled her eyes as she waved cheerily at a man who had stopped walking to watch the two females. His pot belly and ridiculously antique walrus mustache did nothing to alleviate Jen's sudden mirth; at Barb's finger wave and Tim's mixture of scowl and grin, the unknown walrus man waddled away, the sun glinting off his uncovered baldness.

"Before we were rudely interrupted by your craziness and its audience, you were going to tell me the truth about why you are so worried." Also just like Evee, Barb was uncannily insightful with her getting right to the point. Jen sighed and solemnly bade goodbye to any chance of keeping her misery to herself. Not that she was really in misery of course…

"Do you remember Chad Shelton?" _Who couldn't remember Chad, he's just not forgettable. Maybe it's the way he wears t-shirts and suit coats together or the way he laughs. _

"Yes, I remember meeting him during your Thanksgiving break. He was very nice…I don't know how many guys you can honestly say that about. He was funny too." _Yeah…I like that about him: the fact that he tries to keep the peace between Will and Evee and tries to converse intelligently with Heather when she's in a bad mood. But then he laughs about it later._ "Weren't you two together?" At first, Jen thought that her aunt wasn't quite so insightful as she had initially supposed but she quickly came to the conclusion that Barb must be playing dumb; Myra had been shouting the news loud enough for everyone to hear at Thanksgiving if Jen's memory served her correctly.

"Yeah, well. He's staying in London for a while." With baited breath, Jen waited to hear her aunt's undoubtedly loaded response. The blonde teen was not disappointed.

"Isn't that nice. Maybe we'll see him around." With that pithy reply, Barb gave Jen a quick squeeze around the shoulders before getting up and grabbing her bags; the plane had begun to board.

Jen sighed and grabbed her stuff. After being shepherded by well meaning flight attendants and being helped with her bags by the scrawny teenager who was giving her cow eyes behind her, she settled into the cushy seat and got out her iPod. As she turned on her "happy music" playlist, Jen decided that she wasn't going to be so pessimistic about everything. Part of her said that she wasn't being pessimistic…just realistic. Either way, since Chad hadn't officially broken up with her, Jen wasn't going to do it for him, and she wasn't going to act like it was over just yet. She smiled as she closed her eyes to reminisce some more.


	14. Emails Across the Pond

**Hey guys. I hope you don't mind this style. I just thought I'd give it a whirl since Jane does write to Elizabeth in London. I think I'll put in an actual London scene later. We'll see. **

**I am not Jane Austen, big duh-huh. Moving on.**

From: Jennifer Singleton

To: Evee Singleton

Subject:London

Hey girl!

Well, so far London is pretty cool. When we got here, we met up with Kimberly. She seems to be having a great time here. Yesterday she took Barb and me shopping. Ok, yeah so I only bought one thing. Actually I didn't; I wanted to buy it, but I decided not to. It was really – and I mean really – expensive! It was this really cute sleeveless blue shirt-dress. It might have been silk now that I think about it. Or maybe satin… Anyway. I met Kim's boyfriend last night. He seems really nice. They met a couple months ago and he's a really cool. He's like Gerard Butler meets Tom Hanks. I know…a weird comparison, but you know what I mean! Seriously though.

So, will you kill me if I tell you I've only _tried_ to get into contact with Chad. But what I actually did, was I sent a message to Caroline on Facebook, and she hasn't responded yet. So case closed. She probably just hasn't checked it. Because honestly, who would check Facebook when you're in another country? Besides me.

How are things at home? I really hope Mom isn't driving you nuts. Never mind. I take that back, because if I don't you'll make some remark like "driving? don't you mean drove?" Yeah, I know. So um, how're the rest of the gang? I bet Heather's still moping about Colin. Could you please try to cheer her up? Maybe you could take her out to do something. You know she never goes out of her own volition. And please don't let Julia and Kelsii do anything too drastic, like have a party and trash the house. I mean, I know they wouldn't do that on purpose, but some of their crowd might if they got out of hand. Never intentionally though.

How's George? Better yet, how are you _and _George? Revenge is sweet sister! Now I get to bug you about your relationship just like you did to me! Muahahahahaha! I don't have a very good evil laugh do I? I just don't think it sounds right coming out of my mouth. What do you think? So yeah, about you guys. Gone on any dates recently? You know I'm too nosey for my own good.

Lots of love,

Jen

* * *

From: Evee Singleton

To: Jennifer Singleton

Subject:Re: London

Jen,

Sounds like you're having fun in London. How were you at the airport? I know you hate that part. Remember the last time we traveled together? You were wearing slip on flats and they kept coming off. You were seriously turning red. Was it frustration or embarrassment? Anyhoo, Kim's boyfriend sounds like an absolute hottie with a great personality. I were there I might be trying to steal him. No I wouldn't! I'm just kidding Jen, really. I'm not a home wrecker. And especially not to my cousin. She does not deserve that kind of treatment! She babysat us way too many times for me to feel indignant toward her.

I can't believe you didn't buy it! You look so great in blue! It sounds darling!! It would probably go really well with those wedges you have. But yeah, your right. I thought you had some money saved up though? And didn't you get Christmas money from Mom and Dad? Anyway, whatever, it's your life.

You're so silly, Jen. Of course Caroline checks her Facebook! She is addicted to it! Seriously! She was on there all the time at home. Louise told me she's always on. But again, whatever. Maybe you're right. I do hope you get to see them though. It's not _that_ big of a deal! I mean honestly.

Are you going to any parties with Kimberly? Going clubbing?

Loves and hugs,

Evee

P.S.

George and I are doing just fine thanks very much. We went out to dinner a couple of nights ago. His treat; I can't believe he insisted. He's so nice. And no, the evil laugh does not work with you. It's just too evil.

* * *

From: Jennifer Singleton

To: Evee Singleton

Subject:Re: Re: London

Hey Evee,

I guess I am having fun in London, but do you know that song that Ella Fitzgerald sings with Louis Armstrong? "A Foggy Day in London Town"? Yeah. Well not literally. Metaphorically. You know what I mean as always.

Yeah, I might still buy the dress. No, never mind I won't. It's way too expensive. Seriously. And I have enough clothes already. Besides, it may be pretty and it would go great with my wedges. But it isn't **that** pretty.

And honestly, even if you are addicted to Facebook, why would you get on in London when you are preparing for some charity benefit? Caroline's probably more focused on buying a dress. I'm sure it will be gorgeous too! She has such great tastes.

Good for you and George. Don't let Mom get to you. You know she likes him!

Love,

Jen

P.S.

Would Barb even let me go clubbing? Not that I want to!

* * *

From: Evee Singleton

To: Jennifer Singleton

Subject:Re: Re: Re: London

Yes, Jen dear. I **always** know what you mean. Because I can see right into your pure little (or do I mean large?) heart and see all of your dreams, desires, affections, etcetera! Right now I can though, because I am your sister, and yeah. Whatever. You know what **I **mean.

I'm not even going to argue with you about Caroline. It's just pointless, because you'll keep sticking up for her and I'll keep making snide remarks. Question: can remarks be snide when they are made over the internet? Well, I suppose so.

Of course Aunt Barb will let you go clubbing! As long as Kim takes you that is. The only question is, will she approve, no I'm joking! Don't listen to me Jen!! Please go out and have a good time! Puh-lease!! I'd love to tell you to get drunk but neither of us would do that so I'm not going to. Please go out and have fun – and I must emphasize this – _**cleanly**_. I know you have a problem with binge drinking. And drugs. Don't sniff, don't smoke, don't inhale, don't eat. You never know what's in the brownies! J/k. I must be giving you some awful picture of the "Other London." Not that I would know, would I? But seriously, I was just kidding. Please have fun for all our sakes.

Love you lots,

Evee

By the way: George is gone. He's staying with a frat guy in New York. I also hear he's fairly salivating over the guy's aspiring actress sister. Loser. We broke it off after our last date. He said he wanted to be just friends. I just didn't know it was because of some would be Amy Adams. Anyway, toodles!

* * *

From: Jennifer Singleton

To: Evee Singleton

Subject:Re: Re: Re: Re: London

Hey,

So Caroline finally wrote me back, and I went to see her. She looked really tired when I got there and she kept looking at the clock. I think she really was just dying to go back to bed so I left pretty quickly. She told me that she and Juliana had gone out to this club last night with Chad and them. But when she yawned – like I'm talking huge, I got the message and left. She said she'd drop by the next day or something.

So, I stayed at home for a week. I skipped more shopping, museums, and parks, to sit at home for a week! Are you kidding me!! Anyway, she finally came yesterday, but she hardly said anything to me. Seriously, she stared at Kim and Barb the whole time. When Uncle Tim came in I think she rolled her eyes; it was really hard to tell. But then when Kim's boyfriend, Oliver, came in, she started looking him up and down. Yeah, it was great, Kim got all possessive. Oliver is such a cutie though. I don't think he's really even ever thinking about other women. Either he's thinking about Kim or his research. He's absolutely adorable. Barb asked about her family… in a very round about way, and then Caroline turns to me and starts going on about how Chad and Jay are doing all of this stuff together, and how he was dancing with her all last night, and how Will just loves seeing them together. Yeah, I've finally given it up Evee. Chad just doesn't want me any more. The End. Period. Oh well, time to move on.

Hugs and kisses,

Jen

P. S.

What? With this whole George thing? Which one of us is the pot and the kettle, hun?


	15. Waking Up

**Hey guys, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm letting my ideas generate. Ok, maybe I'm letting my ideas stew. Anyway, since one of my faithful reviewers said she'd like to see some more London action, I'm trying to generate some. I don't think I'll be doing any more epistolary chapters but we'll see. **

The sky outside the window of the room was grey with early morning mist, and Jennifer Singleton rolled over in her bed. Normally, she was a morning person, but today she felt completely worn out by travel. Of course, once she was awake, she usually couldn't go back to sleep: Jen either had an internal alarm clock that wouldn't let her drift back into that sublime unconsciousness or Evee had a sinus problem that made her snore disruptively. This morning neither of the two was there to keep her from enjoying a few more hours of blessed slumber.

For just a little bit, Jen thought to herself, she would be able to forget about her whole angsty situation and just sleep in like the normal person she was.

Angsty really was the word to describe the mess she was in, Jen mused as she grimaced to herself before snuggling deeper under the covers of the twin bed. She had a boyfriend, but she didn't know where she stood with him. Her boyfriend might like someone else over her. She had a sister who was encouraging her to basically stalk said boyfriend to talk to him. She had a mom who was moaning about Chad and Colin and Evee. To top it all off, Jen was waiting for letters from five different schools. The list seemed to go on and on and on as her "issues" loomed large in front of her like a brick wall she was supposed to scale.

Suddenly, Jen began to bury her head under her pillow and shake it vigorously as if she were adamantly refusing something offered her.

"I refuse to worry right now. I won't do it. I'm going to lay here and just relax and enjoy life," Jen muttered to herself. "I refuse to worry, or stress. I just won't. I won't . I won't. I won't," Jen repeated the mantra to herself.

"You won't what?"

With a stunned exclamation, Jen lifted her head off the bed though she was still holding her pillow over it like a bizarre sort of helmet. Standing in the doorway was Kimberly, her long, curly reddish-brown hair tousled with sleep. Jen could tell her cousin had just gotten up: Kim was still wearing her pajamas and was rubbing sleep from her only half-opened brown eyes.

"Sorry, Kimberly," Jen said hastily, avoiding answering Kim properly as she watched her much older cousin squint at her watch. "I didn't wake you up did I?"

"No, you didn't; Oliver just texted me," Jen felt herself wince; how many times had Chad texted her?

_Hey whats up?_

_Will's being boring, want 2 hang out?_

_Want 2 go 2 dinner tonight?_

_What time r u getting to the game?_

_Want 2 go see a movie?_

_What do u want 2 do for dinner?_

_What time do u want me 2 pick u up?_

_Hola, want 2 be random today?_

"--and so I was walking to the bathroom when I heard you. What's up?"

Jen blinked at her cousin confusedly before realizing that she had just zoned out in the middle of a conversation. Her tendancy to think randomly about Chad was beginning to disturb Jen. Was she losing it? No, she'd probably already lost it.

"Nothing, sorry I disturbed you."

"No problem, cuz. We can blame Oliver next time we see him. He was asking if I wanted to meet him for lunch."

"What time is it anyway?"

"Nearly eleven."

"Oh my gosh, I never sleep in this late!" Jen threw the covers off of her and began to rummage through her suitcase looking for her toiletries and clean clothes.

"Really? Wow, that's a shocker. I thought for sure you would be a late sleeper like Evee." Jen smiled knowingly.

"Nope, subtle differences."

"Like you talk in your sleep and she snores, huh." Jen laughed as Kim smirked and yawned.

"Something like that."

* * *

Jen tapped her fingers nervously against the doorjamb.

"_Please enjoy the music while your party is reached._"

She turned around and sat down on the bed.

"Big wheels keep on turning  
Carry me home to see my kin  


Singing songs about the southland  
I miss alabamy once again  
And I think its a sin, yes…"

She snorted as she got off of her bed and slumped against the floor.

"Hello?"

"Hey, um why do you have your song set to 'Sweet Home Alabama'? You're from NC!"

"Jen! HI Dearie!! How are you? Oh my gosh I haven't heard from you in so long! What's up?" Jen smiled as she let Minnie Shuford's happy voice wash over her.

"I'm good, what about you? How's Missouri?" Minnie was currently working in Missouri on a horse farm that worked to help treat children with physical disabilities through therapy. She was helping the vet in residence there.

"Oh it's grand. I mean, it isn't perfect but I really enjoy it. I mean and it's what I want to do eventually so it's pretty nice. Of course it's pretty cold now… How about you? Is it cold in Wittenburg?"

"I don't really know, I'm not exactly in Wittenburg." Jen grinned to herself as she flopped onto her back and waited for Minnie's answer.

"Oh, well where are you, girl?"

"London." Jen was now biting her lip to keep from laughing.

"Seriously?!"

Forgetting that Minnie couldn't see her, Jen nodded as she said, "yeah!"

"That is so awesome! Did you go by yourself?"

"No, I'm with Aunt Barb and Uncle Tim. We're staying with my cousin Kimberly. She's studying here."

"So what's it like?"

"Um, cold-ish?"

"Let's talk culture, dearie."

"Oh sorry. The shopping's pretty nice, but I didn't buy anything."

"Yeah, that's probably smart. You remember what Sam did?"

Jen chuckled. Minnie's older brother, Sam Shuford, had gone to Europe with a group at the end of his senior year. While in London, he had been hit by the whim to buy a long leather trench coat – for a very, very high price. He'd hardly ever worn it since.

"Oh yeah, I'll try to avoid the leather."

"Please do. So what else are you up to over there? Why exactly did you go to London for Christmas anyway? I thought you and Evee always spent it together. Or is she there too? I bet she would go crazy with London!"

"Yeah, she'd love it. Anyway, she's not here with me. She stayed at home."

"Really? Wow, I would have thought she would have bolted to go with you given the chance."

"I guess not, any road I'm here sort of just chilling. It was pretty much Evee's idea actually."

"Ok, well if it was her idea, she has a reason. What is it Jennnnn, you know you can tell me. I won't spill…."

"That's actually why I called."

"Ok, I'm ready to be supportive and everything. What time is it there by the way?"

Jen squinted at her watch. The light didn't work anymore so her eye sight was steadily declining.

"mmmm…9:32 I think…"

"Ok, just wondering. It's only 3:30 here. So shoot we've got tons of time."

As Jen told Minnie why she was actually in London, she felt a huge weight lift off of her chest. She wasn't sure how her older friend would react, but at least she didn't feel so deviously decieving anymore. Because Jen had had to start from Chad's arrival in Wittenburg, North Carolina, it was ten o'clock when she was finished pouring her heart out.

"So…"

"Yeah…what should I do? I cant ask Evee. Well, I mean I can, but she'll just tell me what she has before."

"What's her advice?"

"Call Caroline." Jen snorted as she said it. "But that's completely ridiculous, I mean--"

"Call her."

"What?!" Jen shot up from her position on the floor into a sitting postion. She'd hardly expected Minnie to agree with Evee. It wasn't that Jen didn't trust Evee, it was just that…well, Jen just 

didn't think she could go through with calling Caroline. She had been fervently hoping Minnie would respond with something more along the lines of:

"Oh no, please don't do that!"

or

"That may not be the best idea…"

Or

"How about you just text her…or email her. Whichever you're more comfortable with of course."

Jen felt utterly cheated, not to mention cowardly.

"B-but why? Isn't that really…I dunno, forward?"

"Well, not really. You guys spent a good deal of time together right?"

"Sure."

"Well then, just call her and tell her you're visiting your cousin in London and remembered that she was there too. Just don't bring up Chad and you'll do fine."

Jen scowled at the floor.

"I guess I'll do that then…."

She could just picture Minnie's triumphant smile.

"Yay! Well, I have to go, I'm sorry I cant talk longer. I'm glad you called on a Saturday though, otherwise I would have had to pass you up for horses. Anyway, it will all be fine, you'll see. Love you, hun! Call me again!"

"Alright, thanks."

"Oh no problem. You know you can always ask."

"Well, I guess I'll let you go."

"Ok, tata for now!"

"Bye!"

Jen flipped the phone shut and gave a long-suffering sigh. It was going to be a long break….

* * *

The next afternoon found Jen sitting in the Regent's Park twisting a lock of her thick blonde hair around her hand and through her fingers. She'd been sitting there for five minutes now. Just sitting. She was debating whether or not to call Caroline now.

"Just do it!" Jen whispered at herself. Here was yet another sign that she had lost it…

Finally, Jen flipped the phone open and found Caroline in her contacts. Her thumb hovered above "call" as Jen got up her courage. With a burst of decision, Jen quickly punched the key.

"Riiiiing--"

_**--Snap!**_

* * *

"Caroline Shelton."

"Hey Caroline," Jen began when she heard the girl's voice.

"That's me! Just leave me a message and I'll call you back when I get a chance. Thanks so much! Bye!"

Jen banged her forehead against her knee at her own stupidity as she waited for the inevitable beep. This option of leaving a message was actually nicer, though Jen felt cheated after finally having gotten her courage together.

"Hey Caroline, it's Jen Singleton. Just saying hi because I'm visiting my cousin in London and remembered that you were here also. Anyway, hope to hear from ya. Bye."

* * *

Several weeks later Jen had fulfilled Evee's requirements and had gone to see Caroline who had sent her a note on facebook. Jen felt guilty because she had gone early – eleven in the morning – to see Caroline a couple days after and had woken her up! Jen was truly mortified and the conversation had been very stilted the whole visit. But Caroline had been wonderful by filling the awkward gaps with commentary of her own doings in London. Jen was relieved to say the least, and when Caroline had offered to come see her later instead of doing anything that day, Jen had readily agreed.

Now Jen was eagerly waiting for Caroline to call, to text, to come…to anything really. She'd been giving up going to museums and going shopping, but Caroline hadn't come so far. She was really starting to get fed up with the whole thing. She wanted to talk to Caroline because they were friends and because she could ask her about Chad, but she wasn't going to wait around forever.

Before Jen could sink any more into such un-Jennish thoughts, the call box for the flat buzzed. In her hurry to get to it, Jen rather ungracefully fell off of the chair she'd been slouched in while flipping through a magazine. The slippery sheets flew under the chair as Jen scrambled to get back up – all for naught: Kimberly had gotten to the door first.

"Yes?"

"Is Jennifer Singleton there? She told me I could visit."

Jen nodded anxiously when Kim shot her an inquiring look.

"Yeah, come on up," she said as she hit the button.

"Who is she?" Kim asked as she rushed back to her room looking for some jeans; Jen's cousin had emerged from her room only half dressed.

"Friend from NC."

Moments later, Jen found herself on the couch with a properly dressed Kim and a pensieve looking Aunt Bard; all three were looking either at one another or the teen across from them. Caroline had evidently decided not to stick with the black hair and had moved on to light brown. All four women seemed uncomfortable, perhaps Jen most of all. Kimberly and Barbara seemed content have a staring contest with Caroline.

"So, um, how's Louisa?"

"She's good; she's off visiting some castle or another with the rest of the group."

"Cool…"

"Yeah, not really my thing though."

"I suppose so."

"Even Will went…"

"Strange…" Jen didn't know what else to say at this point.

"I suppose it's because Jay went," Caroline continued partly ignoring Jen's comment.

"Probably."

"I told them before they left I was coming. I was like, you remember Jen? And they said yeah. I said I would be coming to see you today but they were all oh no we'd rather go to some run down dilapidated piece of old wreckage. Give me a break."

Jen forced herself to chuckle at the joke even though she felt an uncomfortable swooping sensation in her stomach. So Chad didn't care about her. In fact he was avoiding her. He knew she was here and he'd rather go to a castle with "Jay."

"Well…" And the coversation drifted into nothingness.

They were saved when Uncle Tim and Oliver arrived.

"Hey guys," Tim said as he surveyed the scene critically. "Hi, I believe we've met before. I'm Jennifer's uncle."

An awkward silence hung in the air as Caroline merely stared at Tim Crews who was simply gazing back. Like Jen, Oliver seemed to find the silence oppresive rather than interesting and shut the door loudly. As if having been signalled, Caroline's eyes flew to study Oliver and the orbs of blue widened perceptibly. Realizing what was going on, Jen bit her lip nervously and glanced at Kim, who was now glaring daggers at Caroline. The brunette seemed not too troubled about the obviousness of her observations.

The whole situation would have been hilarious to Jen if only Evee had been there with her to lighten the mood. Instead, Jen felt like she was stuck in a silent horror movie waiting for the inevitable to occur.

At last, Kim seemed to lose it and she rose from the couch majestically before sauntering over to Oliver. Leaning up on her toes, she gave him a quick kiss on the lips.

"Hey Oliver, have a nice time with Dad?" Kim winked at him as she slipped an arm around his waist. Somehow, he understood what was going on; Jen certainly didn't, but she was sure she would find out...

* * *

The door snapped shut and everyone inside collapsed laughing. Momentarily Jen felt remorseful that Caroline might have heard them from the hall, but she just couldn't find it in her to care. In the end, Kim and Oliver had begun an all out make out session, which Caroline had walked out on. Tim's face and Barb's stifled laughter had been well worth it. For a moment, Jen thought she was letting her Evee side out, but she decided not. She was just being herself – she wasn't perfect all the time, not after she had found out she was single again…

**This feels really weak y'all but oh well. I'm not sure, but I've had this idea for a london scene and I think I'm still doing that so that's next.**


	16. Bar None

**Well, guys, I hope this solves any doubts we may have about Chad… and Jen and Chad. **

**I am not Jane Austen, can't claim her work.**

The blonde girl sighed as she looked at the wood of the bar. She couldn't believe she had let Kimberly and Oliver drag her out to a club. What had they been thinking? That this would cheer her up? That she would find some guy to flirt with? All Jen knew was that Kim and Oliver had deposited her at the bar and left to dance.

Looking over her shoulder, Jen saw that they seemed to be enjoying themselves. At least somebody was….

Ever since Caroline had made her disastrous visit, Jen had begun to hold vigils over her phone again. She had thought about calling Chad so many times that she couldn't count them. That was the most logical course after all. Why should she settle getting her information second hand…even if she did trust Caroline – and Jen did! She just wanted to hear from Chad that they were over, because Jen was sure that they were. How could they be "together" when he, knowing she was in town, had blown off coming to see her to spend time with another girl?

Jen felt so confused. This didn't seem like the Chad she knew at all. The guy she liked and dated was considerate, kind, and liked her back…not Will's sister! Maybe he had changed; for her it couldn't be for the better. Or maybe he had…he could have just moved on.

In the end, Jen had not yet called Chad. She had stared at his name on her contacts list, but she hadn't phoned him.

Jen felt like a coward. Being at a bar made her feel like "drowning her sorrows in alcohol," something she'd never before considered. Though she had to admit to herself, the idea was starting to look tempting.

The teen huffed as she put her chin on her hand and scanned the bar. The bartender was giving her another incredulous glance – the same one he had shot her when she had only asked for water. Ignoring him, Jen shifted her attention elsewhere.

A couple seats down there was a man who looked as if he was going through the same that she was. With his shirt sleeves rolled up, it seemed like he had had a hard day or something. He didn't look half bad either, Jen mused to herself as she took a sip of her water.

His shaggy black hair reminded her of Daniel Radcliffe and she smiled to herself. He didn't look that much older than her when she thought about it. When he looked up at her, his hazel eyes met her own. His skin was paler than she would have guessed, though it was still a glowing tan.

Realizing that she was staring, her gaze jumped back to his eyes, which were watching her intently. She smiled apologetically and, laughing, he raised his glass to salute her before turning back to his own thoughts.

Jen let out a breath she had not known she had been holding.

He was cute.

He was sexy.

Who was she kidding? She'd never see him again!

Besides, she wasn't that kind of girl.

Was she?

No, she knew what she wanted out of life and it wasn't a bunch of one night stands for her.

Shaking her head slightly at herself, she continued looking down the line of wood that seemed to stretch on and on. There was a red-head flirting with a man who was eyeing her intently. A little farther along was a brunette laughing drunkenly at a man who was gesticulating wildly. Then the man swung one of his hands around a little too hard and it hit the brunette sharply in the forehead. Immediately, he was apologizing and a moment later the two were laughing again as if it had been the funniest joke in the world. Jen rolled her eyes to herself and raised the bottle to her mouth.

She and Chad had laughed over things all the time, but at least they had been sober all the time. Jen was extremely glad for that fact, which meant she could remember all of those times.

_"Are you laughing at me, Chad?"_

_"I would never do that…"_

_"Look just because I like to listen to the radio--"_

_"And sing along…"_

_"You don't like my singing?"_

_"No your singing's great!"_

_"You're laughing at me."_

_"Duh, but I still like you."_

_"Thanks."_

_"Aren't you going to say you like me back?"_

_"Maybe."_

_"Maaaannn."_

Mentally Jen slapped herself. Here she was again: back to Chad, whom she couldn't seem to escape for more than two minutes.

Exasperated, Jen took an over-large gulp of water and nearly choked, earning another strange and assessing look from the barman. Once she had regained her composure, Jen ran her hands through her hair, frustrated.

She really ought to call Chad. Simply put, there was no other way to resolve this whole dilemma without talking to him. Otherwise, she would just be left wondering: were they together? Were they not together? Did he still like her? Did he like Will's sister – the illustrious Juliana Darcy? What had their relationship been? Had it meant anything to him? Had she just misinterpreted everything?

Jen thought about Kimberly and Oliver: they were so happy together. Without getting sappy, everyone around them could tell how they felt about each other. They went out together. They had fun together. He would take her to lunch. She would help him research. They talked about things. They were just…_together_. Jen grimaced as she traced the patterns of the wood grain with her index finger. She was beginning to sound overly clichéd. Obviously, she had watched too many chic flicks with Julia and Kelsii before she had left. _The Notebook, A Walk to Remember, 13 Going on 30, and You've Got Mail_ swam before her in her mind's eye. Soon she wouldn't be comparing guys to Chad anymore but to the men of those movies. Now that she considered it, that change in course might be an improvement. She couldn't be hung up on Chad forever.

Jen was resolved. How many movies had she watched and books, read where the heroine had lost the love of her life because of miscommunication or the lack thereof?

_Too many for comfort's sake_, Jen thought to herself.

She would call Chad tomorrow, for better or for worse. She just had to know – whatever there was to know…

Before she could take another calming drink of water, Jen felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around. It was cute, sexy dude from a couple seats down.

"Hey," Jen heard herself say. Suddenly she felt a lot braver.

"Hey, I've been watching you," he said as he sent a calloused hand running through his hair.

"Really?" Jen asked. This experience was nowhere near normal for her. It was as if she was watching from right behind her body.

"Yeah, I'm Matt." The cute, sexy guy stuck out the hand that had recently forayed into his messy hair.

"Jennifer." Hesitantly, Jen was starting to lose her nerve, she extended her own hand and they shook.

"Look do you wanna dance?" Jen felt that if she had any less control over her body at that moment her jaw would have dropped.

"Sorry?"

"Do you want to dance?" He had slowed his speech as if he was talking to someone who wasn't quite right in the head, which maybe she wasn't.

"Oh, I mean I heard you, I just yeah," Jen said. Her brain had finally caught up with her mouth. Realizing how stupid she must sound, she continued hurriedly. "See, I'm actually here with some friends and I don't know…" As she said this, Jen looked over Matt's shoulder to scan the crowd for Kimberly and Oliver. She couldn't find them.

Instead, she saw the person she had been thinking about all night – Chad.

He was standing across the room with Will, Caroline, Louisa, her husband, and someone else. A girl with short softly curled black hair. She had to be Juliana; the back of her head looked similar enough to Will's. As she watched, morbidly fascinated, she saw Chad laugh at something Juliana was saying and then draped an arm across her shoulders before hugging her to him. What happened next solidified everything she'd been worrying about. Chad kissed her. It wasn't an all out kiss, but that peck on the lips was enough to make Jen sure.

Faintly she heard Matt saying something else.

"Well then, could I just buy you a drink?" His eyes were earnest.

Instead of feeling her own eyes begin to moisten like she had expected them to, she felt empty. She needed to feel wanted right now… What could be the harm in one dance with a random guy? Jen could step out of herself for just a little bit every now and then.

"No, the dance actually sounds better. I don't think my friends are ready to go just yet."


	17. Messed Up

**I'm not Jane Austen.**

**Hey guys! I hope you like this. Y'all seemed to respond rather well to the last chapter so I thought this was an appropriate continuation of it. I thought it best to deviate slightly from the original plot line since this is modern and we don't really know what happened in London. Not that this did, obviously. Anyway, let me know what you think. I hope it isn't very angsty. Also, I suppose this is a bit suggestive for K+ though I never say anything straight out. So to be on the safe side this chapter is hereby rated: T. There, I can't get in trouble.**

At some point during the course of the night Jen and Matt's respective positions had shifted from comfortably apart to close – closer than normal for her. But Oliver and Kimberly still hadn't come to get her and she didn't see why she should abandon her comfortable position because leaning up against this man she didn't know was just a little cozy.

Jen couldn't even begin to imagine her cousin's reaction to this. Even though they were related, Kimberly was another person in the club she didn't know as well as she should. Jen could easily forgive herself for not knowing Oliver that well – she'd only just met him – but Kimberly was another story. She'd grown up pretty close to her but all she knew about her was that she was in to Medieval Lit, dogs, and Oliver. Jen sighed; wasn't she supposedly a very social person? How could she just not know her cousin, or what she would do when she saw what Jen was doing? Kimberly did have a pretty wicked sense of humor and an uncanny ability to see right through people, like Caroline. Of course, she had a fiery streak too, which manifested itself in possessiveness and biting remarks. The more Jen considered it, she figured Kimberly was simply an older and more mature Evee, though how that was possible Jen couldn't begin to fathom.

Evee…there was a comforting thought: someone she knew. She didn't know the man she was dancing with, her cousin, her cousin's boyfriend, or even the man across the pub she was decidedly _not_ thinking about.

She really thought she had known Chad. Obviously she had been disastrously wrong. He was _not_ the nice guy she thought he was. He _wasn't_ considerate. He _wasn't _caring. He _didn't _make her laugh. He _didn't_ make her grin whenever she saw him. Above all he was _not_ the shoulder she could cry on when she confused herself, when her family finally got to her, or when she stressed about ridiculous stuff.

He _was not_ her best friend.

And he _wasn't _her boyfriend.

He was someone else's.

That was why she was dancing with a man she didn't know – one of the first truly reckless things she had ever done in her whole life if she didn't count falling for the first guy she'd ever _really_ liked, maybe more. Not that she was sure. Now though, it was a moot point because it was over and it just didn't matter if she had "more than liked" Chad Shelton.

"It doesn't matter…" Jen whispered to herself.

"Sorry?" asked the faintly British accented voice behind her head. It was funny how she hadn't really noticed that cute accent until just now.

"Nothing," Jen reassured him. "Just singing along with the music." Thankfully, they couldn't really hear the tune; Jen didn't want to be so spectacularly embarrassed with her blundering excuse. She'd already had a bad night. She just wanted to have fun and make it up to herself.

Jen wondered if Chad was still here.

Mentally, Jen slapped herself. For such a supposedly "nice" and "vanilla" person, she was doing that a lot lately. But she really shouldn't be thinking about Chad for several _very_ good reasons.

She was dancing with another man, no matter that she'd been comparing him to Chad throughout the whole experience.

Chad had moved on – obviously and publicly if she did say so herself.

As he was quite clearly otherwise occupied, she should get over him; she didn't want to hurt herself even more. It was a simple matter of self preservation.

Jen was shocked out of her thoughts when the music changed to a faster beat. At first she attempted to move away from Matt so they could both have a little more room to dance, but the Englishman pulled her back gently. Not considering anything other than simple acquiescence, Jen consented, and the pair continued as they had before: her back against his chest, his hands under hers on the very edge of her hips.

A few moments later, Jen began to feel distinctly uncomfortable. Matt's hands were roaming as he ground against her, his movements harder and more suggestive than before. His right hand edged from under hers to rise against her stomach slowly in an almost tantalizing manner.

Why had she worn such a thin cotton shirt? She could feel the warmth of his palm as it traveled steadily upward before stopping just short of her chest and falling in an arc to the band of her jeans where his fingertips dared to tug a little at the hem of her shirt. It didn't stop though as it moved again to rest hotly on her stomach.

At the same time, he had subtly moved his left hand with the beat of the music and he was now inching it more and more toward the inside of her leg, a place she wasn't too comfortable with him going.

Suddenly the full impact of what was going on hit her: she was dancing – no, having sex imitation – with a man she didn't know in an English club she'd never been to before and no one she knew in her peripheral vision.

As attractive as he was, she wasn't going to get that cozy with him. She was _not_ that kind of girl, no matter how vulnerable she felt at the moment.

And she felt incredibly vulnerable. She couldn't though. Jen would have to take charge of the situation or there would be trouble…

Quickly, Jen grabbed the hand on the inside of her leg and jerked it away. Attempting to slap away the member that was working its way to her bust, Jen lost her balance and stumbled out of Matt's arms to fall into the dense crowd.

She thought she had merely knocked into a random stranger, but to her pleasant surprise, not to mention relief, it was Oliver that turned around, Kimberly clutched securely in his arms.

"Jennifer?" His voice was clear and steady and Kim's eyes were completely focused. She sighed as she realized neither of them was drunk; she hadn't really liked the idea of trying to explain her already somewhat awkward situation to a plastered couple. "What's up?"

Jen opened her mouth to explain but she found that the words wouldn't come. She felt violated. She'd never really been touched like that, much less by someone she'd just met. Angered bubbled inside Jen: anger at Matt for touching her, anger at Kim and Oliver for bringing her here, anger at Chad for making her do this. Because it was entirely his fault.

"Oh." Kim's voice broke through the hazy veil that had descended in Jen's head. She was looking over Jen's shoulder, her eyebrows rising before she suddenly rearranged her face into a frown.

"Hey Oliver, are you ready to go?" Kim asked, now looking up at her boyfriend with eyes that said that a question wasn't really involved in what she was saying.

"Yeah, sounds like a good idea. Jen?" Oliver's eyes were still focused on a spot behind her, undoubtedly Matt.

"Please," Jen sighed dramatically to cover up the real relief that was crashing through her like a tsunami. She smiled weakly at Kim, who grabbed Jen's hand before looking at her boyfriend.

"Oliver?" Jen heard the puzzlement in her cousin's voice and quickly looked back at the taller Englishman. His eyes had narrowed and then gone very wide, before his mouth twitched in what looked like a satisfied smirk. Kim's eyes had also gotten bigger though she appeared to be scowling rather than smiling.

Not liking being left out of the loop, Jen looked around while brushing her hair out of her eyes only to see Matt being pushed along in front of someone – someone taller with red-gold hair and very stiff shoulders.

Her knight in shining armor.

Jen felt herself sag internally. She had gone and ruined everything.


	18. Just Jen

**Hey guys, next chapter. **

**I am not Jane Austen, and I don't claim her plot lines.**

"You did WHAT?!"

"No need to shout, Evee, really."

"Well excuse me, if I need you to repeat what you just said!"

"Look, it's not like I was molested or anything. Kim and Oliver were right there!"

"You put yourself in the position though!"

Jen felt like she was about to lose it.

"It's not like you're my mother, Evee!"

"Yeah, well, you've always sort of been one to me. How do you think I should react to my sort of mother figure telling me she danced with a drunk guy she didn't know, in plain view of the love of her life!"

Jen lost it. She felt the overwhelming urge to cry.

"You can't expect me to be perfect all of the time, Evee! I'm not your mom either! I'M JUST A KID! A STUPID TEENAGER WHO MAKES MISTAKES SOMETIMES! ICAN'T BE PERFECT FOR YOU ALL OF THE TIME! I JUST CAN'T DO IT, SO DON'T EXPECT ME TO!"

An awkward silence dropped over the room like a heavy muffling blanket. The only sounds were the two girls' labored breathing. From the floors below the faint sounds of cutlery and voices seeped under the shut door to their room.

"How could you?" Evee's voice was cold and full of disappointment.

"How could I what?" Jen asked calmly hoping to diffuse the situation. She knew even as the words left her mouth that it was a vain attempt.

"How could you do this to me?" Evee hissed, bristling at Jen's nearly apathetic tone.

"That's the point, Eves!" Jen yelled, throwing her hands wildly into the air. "I haven't done _anything _to you! _I_ got _myself_ in a sticky situation. _I _saw _my _boyfriend kissing someone else and _I _lost it. And _he _saw _me _– ME, NOT YOU – dancing with a drunk JERK!" Jen took a deep breath as she flopped down on her bed. She needed to regroup. She couldn't just lose her cool like this. She wasn't that fiery person who easily lost her temper. She was the soft, steady voice of reason and she really didn't know how many more random and un-Jen-like actions she could get through without being institutionalized.

"I can't believe you." Jen looked up into Evee's face, sighing as she did so. She wasn't even going to argue. She didn't have the energy and at the moment she really didn't care. "You totally threw 

away your rational self. For what? To get almost molested?" Jen felt like rolling her eyes. Would she be giving this lecture if it was the other way around? "To feel wanted because Chad was with someone else?" Jen scowled. She would hate Evee tons right now for being so right but she still didn't feel properly motivated. "Or so you say," Evee concluded scoffing.

"Fine, I obviously just imagined him kissing Juliana Darcy," Jen huffed. "I think I'm gonna go talk to Heather now, she seems depressed."

"Fine, just run away from your sister who's telling you the TRUTH! Run away because you know you're just as depressed as you seem to think Heather is!" Jen heard the door slam behind her as she trudged down the hall. Evee was being a pill.

Even if she was right…

Jen was the first to get mad at herself after her little adventure. Kimberly had been saying everything she would have done to the guy if Jen hadn't gotten herself out of it. Oliver was kind to Jen before laughing at his girlfriend. Aunt Barbara had hugged Jen and tucked her in bed. Uncle Tim had made her a cup of tea.

Jen had cussed herself out in her head as she watched a repeat of Chad marching Matt away on the behinds of her eyelids.

What had her favorite sister done?

She had called her ten different kinds of stupid and acted like Jen had betrayed her, not Chad or anyone else for that matter. Evee hadn't even laid into Matt.

It wasn't like Jen didn't regret what had happened. If she could have done it over she wasn't sure she would have even gone to the club in the first place. She didn't think she wanted to see Chad kiss someone else again. It looked too strange, like his lips just weren't supposed to be there…on another girl's lips.

But they had been.

Jen felt a burning and pricking sensation behind her eyes. Screwing up her face and giving a hearty sniff, she assured herself she wasn't going to cry. Not over this. Not over any of it.

She wasn't going to weep like the damsel in distress because her boyfriend had kissed someone else, she had done something dangerous, and Evee had yelled at her. She wasn't going to because there was no knight in shining armor here to save her. Chad wasn't about to burst through the door and tell her he was sorry, that he hadn't meant any of it, that he wanted for them to be together.

Jen stopped at a door on her right to peek into the triplets' room. Kelsii and Julia were in there, lounging on their bunk beds. Noting that Heather wasn't on her daybed, Jen merely smiled and waved at the other two and turned down the stairs.

She hadn't really been in the mood to talk to Heather, but it had seemed like the most plausible excuse to throw in Evee's face at the time.

As Jen went down the stairs, she could feel her varied emotions – anger, sadness, frustration, betrayal – flee her system.

The longer she considered everything she was going through, it wasn't all so complicated as she had originally thought. Evee was right. She had done a very ridiculous thing; however, her extrication from the situation had remedied it slightly. The simple act of slapping him away had been somewhat liberating in itself. She felt like she had relieved herself of a burden she had not known was there. This impossible weight of always being what was expected of her: by her mother, by her friends, by Evee. She would never slap anyone because she was too nice for it.

Even Chad had agreed with that.

No, now that Jen thought about it, he hadn't.

He had told her that he knew she had a darker side that would have dumped trail mix in his face. Well, he had been right. She had proved him so. She wasn't completely "nice."

She was just Jen, a girl who was vanilla, caring, kind but knew when to laugh and when to cry and when to slap. She was multifaceted, dynamic, not stagnant and flat.

And he knew that.

That was a point in his favor, Jen thought to herself as she closed the back door behind her and walked to the hammock. He had known she needed relief from the façade she felt others push upon her.

No, not a façade. After all, she liked to be this way. Jen enjoyed being nice to people; she enjoyed being thought of as nice. She wanted to be looked to as the good sister, which was perhaps vain of her. But she found she liked the simplicity of it – the pure, for lack of a better word, goodness arriving from the whole social naivety of her situation. She loved every single minute of it. And she would never take it back.

Jen sighed as she collapsed on the hammock.

Sometimes she confused herself with her roundabout decisions.

Jen looked to the left of her seat and saw a snake among the leaves. She nearly jumped as it slithered under the thin piece of fabric and across the yard. Its movements made her shiver instinctively; she loathed snakes. Once, Evee had asked her why she didn't like them. Jen had responded that they simply _looked_ evil. Jen watched this serpent make its way through the grass and onto a flat rock. As the sun touched it and January warmth pervaded the area that had seemed so chill moments ago, Jen decided that this common Garter snake – harmless to her – looked almost beautiful in the sun, its evil since forgiven it in the splendor of that small heat.

* * *

"You did WHAT?"

"I forgave him."

**Hey guys. I hope this chapter isn't very confusing. Jen and I seem to be figuring out her emotions at the same pace, so I'll admit I'm having a little trouble but oh well. I hope the little thing with the snake at the end clarifies how Jen feels toward Chad. Please review so I might know where you would like for this story to head next. I'm thinking of having a Jen/Evee discussion next including what happens when Evee visits Annie, which should be happening soon. I'll admit I seem to have some things mixed up! Any road, please review to let me know what you think.**


	19. Visiting

**Sorry it's taken me a while guys; I started a story for Harry Potter and I was really mad about the beginning but it gets better in the middle if any of you are into that.**

**I am not Jane Austen, and I don't take credit for her ideas.**

"I can't believe it, Evelyn! Why?!"

"Mom, could you move for a sec?"

"Well, I'm sorry, _Mother_, she's my friend!"

"But she's with that _man_!"

"You wanted me to basically move in with _that man_!"

"Excuse me, Evee, Mom."

"That's the point! _She's_ supposed to be visiting _you_! Not the other way around!"

"If only, Mom, if only."

"Don't use that tone of voice with me young lady!"

"What tone exactly?"

"Any more bags, Evee?"

"No, Jen, thanks."

"THAT TONE!"

"I was talking to Jen!"

"You know what I meant!"

"Obviously not!"

"Don't play stupid with me!"

"I'm not playing stupid with you!"

"How could you do this to me?"

"Do what to you?!"

"Let that _bi--_"

"Don't even think about it!"

"Why then?!"

"Because I wasn't going to sell myself so you could have a better manicure!"

"How _dare_ you?!"

"That's right: how _dare_ I make a decision on my own?"

"I just want the best for you!"

"Keep telling yourself that!"

"Evee…"

"WHAT?!"

Jen flinched as the two turned their raised voices on her.

"Dad's waiting…"

Evee sighed and rubbed a hand across her face before turning back to Mrs. Singleton.

"Mom, I'm really sorry I yelled at you."

Evee waited and Jen fidgeted. Myra didn't respond.

"It's just that Annie is my friend and if this is what she wants to do, I'm not going to drop her as a good friend just because she took my place or because she thinks more like you want me to than I do. I guess she's more practical that way. I just wouldn't be able to live with Colin," Evee continued. "What I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for yelling at you. Forgive me?"

The silence stretched on.

"Have a good trip," the girls' mother said before turning on her heel and gliding into the den.

Evee sighed again as she watched her mother's retreating back. Then she turned to her sister.

"Try not to go crazy, ok Jen?"

"You know I won't. I'll survive. You make sure you stay sane. And please try to get a glimpse at Ms. Burgess' penthouse." Jen smiled at Evee and squeezed her hand, trying to reassure her.

"I'm not sure I'll be able to avoid it." Evee glanced at the doorway to the den before looking back at Jen. "You know, I love her so much. She just drives me crazy sometimes. We're just not on the same page."

"I know."

A comfortable silence engulfed the room this time.

"Are you going to call Chad?"

"Evee…"

"What?" Evee smiled innocently. Or it would have been innocent if it hadn't looked so much like a smirk.

"Just forget about it. Okay?"

"Right, Jen whatever you say."

Jen just rolled her eyes exasperatedly.

"Will you hurry up and leave before Dad uses all of the gas just waiting for you in the driveway?"

"Don't be mean!"

"Never."

Evee had walked all the way to the door while Jen had reached down to pet Sherlock when she stopped and turned back around.

"Have _you_ forgotten about it?"

Jen raised an eyebrow. She was starting to develop quite a talent for it if she did say so herself.

"What?"

"You know what." Evee paused for minute biting her lip. "Have you?"

Jen debated with herself before giving a half truthful answer.

"Sort of."

Evee looked like she had been told Christmas was cancelled. Jen wondered just what was going on. Her sister couldn't still have feelings for --

"Is this about George?"

"No."

"Oh." Privately, Jen was glad, but what else was there to say?

"It's about my sister being happy."

"Ah," Jen sighed. It was taking Evee longer to get over Jen and Chad's relationship than it was her. "Have a nice trip, Evee."

Evee snorted.

"Yeah, nice and wholesome, like a rice cake." With that, Evee blew a kiss at her sister and swept out the door and into Mr. Singleton's car. Jen stood at the door and waved before going upstairs.

When she reached their shared room, Jen shut the door and lay down on the bed. Jen wondered just why Evee constantly felt the need to keep doing this to her. Either her or her mom would mention Chad and all of Jen's hard work would crumble around her.

Slowly and tentatively, Jen got up and went to the desk where the laptop sat. In a rush of decision, she opened the left hand desk drawer and pulled out a dirty Frisbee golf disc. It was orange and scratched, but when she turned it over, it read _Chad Shelton_ on the back. They had gotten their discs mixed up when playing and she had kept his, always meaning to give it back but never taking the opportunity.

She supposed now was as good a time as any. After all, she mused to herself, it wasn't like an opportunity was going to present itself any time soon. Not when they weren't dating. Or even still friends for all she knew.

She had her mind made up. Determined, she logged onto facebook and composed a message to Chad Shelton.

**Hey guys, hope this wasn't too fast reading. I hope you liked it, please let me know if you have any suggestions or if you don't like where you think I'm going. I am changing it around a little because of something Jakeline said. It is modern and I don't see any reason why Jen shouldn't see Chad before they get back together.**


	20. Giving Back

**I am not Jane Austen and I don't claim her plotlines.**

**Sorry this is so late again!!**

Jen drummed her fingers on the steering wheel nervously. Abruptly she stopped and turned up the volume on the music. She wondered to herself if it would be possible to drown out of her conflicting thoughts with the loud, intrusive beat pumping in her car. The hip-hop she didn't usually listen to, however, was not doing the job she had hoped it would. Instead she was beginning to get a headache because of the increased jumble in her brain.

Jennifer Singleton had absolutely no clue how she had gotten herself into this mess. Or why for that matter.

In all honesty, she hadn't really thought that Chad would respond to her pathetic message.

_Hey Chad, just wondering if you were back in town. I still have one of your Frisbee golf discs and just wanted to know if you wanted it back. Thanks, Jen._

She hadn't thought he'd want to see her again, yet the next day after Evee had left, Jen had sat down at her desk to find the answer she had half-wished wouldn't come.

_Jen, I am back in town for a couple of weeks, there are some things that need finishing up. Sure, I'd like the disc back. Maybe we can get together for lunch or something?_

Jen had stared at the screen for several hard minutes. She remembered not really hearing anything that had been going on around her. Her ears had been filled with a loud rushing sound and she'd felt like she could hear his voice repeating the phrase: "_Maybe we can get together for lunch or something?_" That was the first time Jen had really wished Evee had stayed just so she would have someone reliable – in other words, someone who wouldn't shriek in excitement at the invitation like her mom – to tell her it said what she thought it did. Finally, Jen had taken a deep breath and dived into typing a reply before she could lose the little nerve she had.

_Um, sure, lunch is fine I suppose. Just tell me when and where and I'll remember to bring the disc._

Jen had mused over the lines after she had sent it, proud that she had come off sounding slightly nonchalant, not at all how she felt. She had thought that the words "just tell me" sounded a little desperate in letting him call the shots, but she had decided that she was simply reading too much into it.

That night, Jen had lain on her bed, torn between hoping and dreading that he would send her the time and place for their lunch.

The next morning had found her almost barricaded in her room at eight o'clock in the morning, the snores of her dad emanating from the room down the hall. She twitched at loud noises and almost slammed the door in Kelsii's face when the girl was sleepwalking to the bathroom.

She had guessed that Evee would be laughing at her if she could see her and the knowledge had brought her back to normality like nothing else had.

So, Jen had composedly sat down at her desk and, picking agitatedly at a loose string in the hem of her pajama pants, waited impatiently for the computer to boot. To her surprise, Chad had already replied.

_How about panera, 1, this Friday?_

Consequently, here Jen sat in the parking lot for Panera Bread, ten minutes early. The only reason she had decided to leave so early was so that she wouldn't have to tell anyone exactly who she was meeting. When she had announced she was going to lunch with a friend, the question had descended from all combatants.

"Who with?"

"Is he cute?"

"Why?"

"Where?"

"Anyone we know?"

"Whoever he is, he probably won't measure up to Chad…"

The last comment, launched into the arena by Mrs. Singleton, was what had made Jen flee the house ten minutes too soon. She was a coward and she knew it, but she just didn't know if she really wanted to tell anyone about her having lunch with her old boyfriend. Not even Evee…

The implications were too many, too strong to outsiders who didn't know the whole story. And if Jen told her mom, the entire manicure circuit was sure to find out. If Jen let it slip to Kelsii, and therefore Julia, the entire school would find out. Heather would probably scowl at her and ask what happened before telling her why she probably shouldn't have done it. If Mr. Singleton knew, he might chuckle a little, which would make Jen feel foolish and stupid, not what she wanted even if she was. Evee…well there was nothing really wrong with telling her favorite sister, but privately Jen thought that telling Evee would only get both of their hopes up. And Jen just didn't think she could handle that. She got the pep talks enough inadvertently without Evee having proof to throw in her face that he would come back to her, as she was always saying if the subject came up. The optimism was starting to get to Jen when all she really wanted was a good bit of closure to seal her wounds and set her up for the last nine weeks of school.

So that was what she had planned when she had gotten out that Frisbee golf disc for an excuse to see him. It was for closure, nothing more. It certainly wasn't a date, of all things.

Jen nervously hoped that no one from school worked at Panera Bread…

_Tap, tap, tap._

Jen shrieked and immediately wanted to bang her head against the steering wheel.

Standing just outside her driver's side window was Chad Shelton, glorious in all of his disheveled and boyish good looks with the wind tugging slightly at the ends of his reddish hair. The familiar blue eyes, which held none of their former special warmth, were what brought her back to reality. Automatically, she turned off the car and grabbed her purse from passenger seat before opening the door.

Chad stepped back automatically to give her room and as she noticed his eyes dart to a point somewhere above her left shoulder, she wondered if she had overdressed for her "bit of closure." It wasn't like she'd been thinking of him when she'd picked out the white tube top she'd worn at the party where they'd met. She had just wanted to enjoy the spring break weather: sunny and warm.

Despite the mild breeze, the air felt pleasant and balmy almost. Evidently, Jen's skin wasn't reacting to the weather correctly because Goosebumps flared up and down her arms as she shut the car door behind herself.

"Hey." She hoped she didn't sound as breathless as she thought she did.

"Hey yourself." He smiled but it was different than it had been before everything. Where she was used to seeing a carefree grin, she was met with a pleasant and polite upturning of lips and showing of teeth. Jen hitched her purse higher onto her shoulder to hide her shudder.

Without saying anything else, they walked into the restaurant side by side. They ordered uncomfortably, and by the time they sat down to wait, Jen was about to snap. She didn't know how much longer she could take this awkward silence between her and Chad. She was starting to think that they were definitely better off just _not_ speaking to each other. It certainly seemed easier.

"So," she finally said after taking a sip of her sweet tea.

"So," he replied before taking a slurp of his own drink.

Jen huffed. If he wasn't going to help the conversation she would have to do it on her own. Deciding that if she was going for closure, Jen figured she might as well broach the most awkward subject first.

"Did you enjoy your time in London?"

She could see his eyes flicker to hers in wonder and surprise. Was he wondering just what she was playing at? Jen mentally shrugged as she decided she didn't really care what he thought.

"It was okay."

He made no effort to continue that train of thought.

"How did the benefit turn out?"

As he gave her another searching look, Jen realized that she was intentionally trying to raise the topic of that night in the club. That was one surefire way of achieving closure, she supposed. There was certainly no harm in her wanting the whole deal to be official.

A moment of silence between the two stretched as Chad didn't answer. Other people around them chatted happily and light background music drifted from the speakers in the ceiling as Jen watched Chad steadily and waited for his response.

Finally it came.

"Fine." Thinking that he wouldn't continue speaking when another paused descended, Jen heaved a sigh. He did not, however, leave it at that. "How was your visit in London?"

Jen instantly knew how he had felt when she'd asked. Her skin broke out into Goosebumps again, and her headache returned with the memory of regret and remorse pressing itself to the forefront of her brain.

"Okay," she whispered in a strangled voice.

Chad made a strange noise, but before either of the two could say anything else their names were called. Avoiding each other's eyes, they got up hurriedly and retrieved their orders. Jen was secretly pleased that her plan had been thwarted. Now that her idea had been turned on her, she wasn't so sure she wanted to continue in that line of thought. Chad had other ideas though.

As they sat down, he broke the silence forcefully.

"Really?" He almost growled. Jen almost dropped her sandwich. She honestly had no idea when she had ever heard the mild mannered Chad Shelton _growl_.

"Well," she began before she took a small bite of her sandwich and chewed. Her attempt to buy herself some thinking time didn't last long enough. When she was finished procrastinating, she felt a little bit braver though. "It wasn't great if you know what I mean."

She thought she saw his jaw tighten just a little bit, another very un-Chad-like thing to do.

"Actually, I know exactly what you mean."

Jen gulped and took another hasty bite of the sandwich gripped tightly in her near trembling hands.

She desperately wanted to ask if he and Juliana Darcy were together. She was dying to tell him that she was sorry and ask if he could forgive her for being such an idiot and a jerk. She was so tempted to ask him where they stood…as a couple, as friends, as anything. But she couldn't get her mouth to open. All of the happy people talking around them seemed to mock her as she warred with herself and attempted to force her lips apart and let the words spill into the empty space between them.

Before she could say anything, he beat her to it.

"Why did you do it, Jen?" He was staring at the food in his hands and she knew exactly what he was talking about without his having to say anything because it had been what they were both thinking about. For a moment she couldn't bring herself to respond. Again he got there before she did. "Not that you have to tell me." He sighed. "I suppose I don't really have a right to know do I." Jen noted that what should have sounded like a question came out of his mouth as a statement of fact.

Because he looked so tortured and indecisive, Jen decided to play along and throw him a life line.

"I was upset." She watched his face and was rewarded with a questioning look. "I wasn't drunk if that's what you'd been thinking. You know I'm not a drinker." Jen thought she might be getting too personal and backtracked. "I was just upset, that's all." Immediately, Jen knew that her attempt hadn't worked.

"But why? About what exactly? You don't usually lose your head like that!" His voice got louder as he bit off the end of the sentence.

"I wouldn't exactly say I lost my head. Well, maybe I did, but it certainly wasn't random." Jen searched Chad's face waiting for him to reply, but he didn't. So she continued as confusion crossed his face. "How's Juliana Darcy?"

Another loaded and awkward silence congealed between the pair, though this one was much more uncomfortable than any that had preceded it. Jen saw Chad's eyes grow bigger in recognition. She couldn't stand to watch him for long though, and she ate her lunch slowly as she waited for him to make the next move.

"She's just a friend." Jen could hear the words even though they were whispered very low. She felt her stomach unclench in that moment and butterflies flood it. Heat rushed to her face in what she supposed would be a very unattractive blush. As soon as her body had reacted, all of the occurrences seemed to reverse and her mental headache returned with a vengeance.

"It doesn't matter now, I suppose," Jen shrugged.

Her ears straining to hear what Chad might say next, Jen sat there patiently. He didn't say anything.

"We'll just be friends," she muttered with a bad attempt at a smile which became more of a grimace as it formed on her face.

Still the boy – no, man – across from her didn't say anything.

They finished their lunch in comparative silence, both of them making random small talk but never mentioning what had just been decided like a contract they were now bound too.

As they got up and left the building, Jen finally remembered with a lurch and a memory from a different time.

"Oh yeah, Chad," she said, feigning happiness. "Here's your Frisbee, I promise it's in the same condition it was in when you gave it to me." Jen smiled as she fished it out of her purse and held it out to him. It took him a moment to register and then he accepted the scuffed up orange disc from her hands.

"Nah, I think I see a new scratch on it," he attempted to joke. The two smiled weakly at each other, and Jen didn't think she could stand this situation with its ironic significance and loaded implications.

**Hey guys, I promise I'll be wrapping this up soon. Tell me what you think!**


	21. Brit at the Bar

**I am not Jane Austen.**

**Hi, I know it's been a long time since I updated this, but someone just reviewed and I felt the need for a little bit of closure**.

It had been two long years since Annie had married Colin. Two years since Evee had visited them at their beach house at Ocracoke Island and been seduced by Will Darcy. Of course, Evee had walked out on him during what she had described as a phenomenal heat-of-the-moment make out session, so perhaps it had been two years since he had _almost_ seduced Evee.

Most importantly to Jen, however, it had been two years since she and Chad Shelton had dated. Her mother had never really given up to say the least. In fact, Kelsii reported that Myra would still rant to anyone who would listen that Chad Shelton had _played _her daughter—her sweet, innocent, goody-two-shoes Jennifer. Jen grimaced at the very thought. She could only imagine Evee's scathing remarks. Not that she actually had to imagine them. She'd heard them multiple times during Jen's first year at college when Evee complained that Jen had left her to fend off their maniacal mother all by herself.

Going away to college had been a real blessing to Jen. She got away from all of those expectations—from herself and from her mother. It was only an added bonus that she got away from Chad Shelton who was still living on and off in her neighborhood. They'd had a few awkward run-ins in the grocery store in the months between their "closure" and her departure for school. The last time they met, she honestly hadn't really wanted to consider what he was doing in the florist section of Harris Teeter… She had spent too much of her time wandering down the baking aisle deciding if he had moved on already and if she was ok with that.

The great thing about life, though, was that it had continued. Heather was still a vegetarian and depressed by turns. Kelsii and Julia were still poring over Cosmo like it was their religion. Evee was still having rotating fantasies about George, Darcy, journalism school, and war zones. Her parents were still a hair's breadth away from separation—a humorous breadth, but it was there all the same.

As for her, Jen had gone off to UNC Chapel Hill. She had been pleased that not all of her friends thought of her as plain vanilla. In fact, her current apartment roommate Maggie, who was very much like Evee, insisted that Jane was definitely chocolate-vanilla swirl. Of course, maybe that had all been Maggie's doing since she had insisted on dragging Jen to all sorts of events—from concerts to parties. Jen hadn't been too pleased with Maggie's last choice in fraternity party, but Maggie had smiled and told her she needed to live on the edge a little. Evee was attending Duke and unfortunately liked Maggie very much. The full effect was that Jen was often overwhelmed and outnumbered in the decision department.

But today Jen was alone in the apartment since Maggie had spent the night with her boyfriend. The spring semester had just ended, and Jen was relishing the feeling of no exams and no essays as she yawned and stretched in her pajamas. Looking at the refrigerator, Jen saw the post-it note from Maggie.

_Celebratory grad drinks tonight with Hannah and Kim at 9. Don't forget!_

Jen snorted. Only Maggie would give her a time but not a place. Scratch that. Only Maggie and Evee would do that.

Slowly, Jen lumbered back to the bedroom and picked up her cell, dialed Maggie, and waited patiently. A glance at the clock told her it wasn't too early to be calling her roommate (12 o'clock).

"Hello?"

"Hey Maggie, sorry to bother you, but where exactly are we having drinks tonight?"

"Oh that…Topos."

"oooh, Top of the Hill…classy! Are you bringing Brad?"

"No, we're going to go all girls tonight. Plus, that way I can enjoy the view without being glared at."

"Isn't Brad right there?"

"Yeah, but he's still snoring." Jen heard a loud grunt from the other end of the line and guessed that Maggie had elbowed her beloved boyfriend not so lovingly in the ribs. "Look, I'm hanging out with Brad today until Topos, so do you want me to pick you up later?"

"No, it's ok. I'll just meet you there."

"Ok, I'm going to wake up sleeping beauty." Another grunt. "I'll see you later, Jen. "

"Yep, bye."

Nine hours later Jen was flashing her newly valid for alcohol license at Topos and requesting a fuzzy navel. Turning around, she saw the girls waving at her from across the room. Smiling, she waved back and started to edge her way around other people. When she had finally made it to their table, she shouted, "Congratulations!"

Hannah and Kim beamed. The freshly graduated alumni had met Maggie and Jen in the dorms and the four had bonded over awful suitemates and near death disasters in the kitchen.

"Enough about that, I don't want to talk about school, even if I am done with it!" Hannah raised her drink. Kim nodded and continued.

"The better thing to talk about is the crowd of ho-ot guys by the bar. They are definitely NOT frattie-baggers."

"See, this is why I don't bring Brad when we do this," Maggie smiled over the rim of her own drink. "You, Kim, are a hormonal time bomb waiting to explode on the next unsuspecting male."

"Bite me. I just enjoy the opposite sex, and they happen to enjoy me."

"Does this mean that your latest thing with Brian is over?" Hannah quirked an eyebrow.

"Oh definitely. Not that we were exclusive anyway. But for one of those men, I think I'd looove to be exclusive."

Jen laughed. "They look that good?" Kim wasn't exactly overly promiscuous. She just liked a nice...variety, as she would say.

"Well, actually, it's more the accent on the dark haired one that did me in. I was over there ordering when I accidently knocked into him"—Hannah snorted into her drink, and Kim glared—"and he excused himself in a HOT BRITISH ACCENT."

"Does it every single time." Hannah sighed.

"What?"

"You and British guys."

"I'm just saying, it makes for an awesome bedroom voice."

"You are too much," Jen laughed again. Kim was really a hoot to hang out with. She made nights like these especially memorable.

At this point, Maggie had turned around to eyeball the Brit at the bar. "Is he that one?" She pointed while asking Kim.

"Yeah, the one next to the blonde girl in the skanky silver dress."

"Oh, he is yummy! I give him a 7." Kim looked affronted.

"No way, definitely a 9. Hannah?"

Hannah cocked her head to the side for a minute and squinted at the man like he was a slide under her microscope. "Well, I'd only give him a 6." Both Kim and Maggie gaped at her. "But he's just not my type!" Hannah hurried on laughing at their faces. "You know I like them scruffy with a bit of beard. He's tall, dark, and handsome, but the guy's too clean cut. It probably comes from being British."

Kim just rolled her eyes. "Ok Jen, you'll have to be the tie breaker. We all know you generally prefer the blondes but this guy is a type breaker in my humble opinion."

"I don't have a type."

"Yes, you do," Maggie accused.

"Says who?"

"Me, because every time we watch a movie together you always lust after the blonde one."

"Not every time! I like Booth, remember?"

"True, but that actor is fine, period. So he's a type breaker. You like the blondes."

"Whatever," Jen said as Maggie smirked at her and gestured for her to turn around and take a look.

Taking another drink of fuzzy navel, Jen shifted in her seat so that she could see the bar. Unfortunately there were quite a few "tall, dark, and handsomes" at the bar so she looked for the skanky dress instead. It seemed as if silver skank had taken a powder room break.

"Which one is he? I don't see the silver skanky dress either."

"He's to the left of the tall strawberry blonde in the green shirt. Pretty color." Maggie commented.

Jen looked again and saw the green shirt. Then she saw "tall, dark, and handsome." Or what she assumed was "tall, dark, and handsome" since he had his back to her.

"Unless you want me to rate the back of his head, I don't think I should be voting."

"Well we could always vote on his fantastic as—" Kim started before Hannah interrupted.

"Wait, he's turning around!"

Jen stared. She seriously could not have been having a conversation with her friends about Will Darcy. She had to be imagining things. But if he had a British accent, then it would certainly fit. Jen took a sip and nearly choked when she realized who must be next to him—who the tall strawberry-blonde must be.

When she finally got up her courage to look back to man in the green shirt she saw the unmistakable goofy grin that only belonged to Chad Shelton as he laughed at something Will was muttering. Everything was confirmed even more when she saw Caroline join the two guys in a very revealing silver dress. Enter silver skank.

Jen turned back around rather quickly, and before she could think twice about what would happen next, muttered, "I know them actually."

"Really? You can introduce me to British dude then." Kim said happily before Hannah smacked her arm.

"Oh come on, Kim, look at Jen's face. Maybe she doesn't want to talk to them." Jen hoped she didn't look THAT bad, but Hannah's voice said otherwise. Either way, she was grateful for Hannah's insight.

"Well I haven't really seen them in years so I doubt they would remember me." _Liar_, she thought to herself. "And we didn't exactly end on fantastic terms."

"Oh Jen, come on, how bad could it be? You're one of the nicest people I know, how could anything end badly with you!" Kim said hopefully.

"Well, the blonde and I are exes."

"As in silver skank?" Kim asked confusedly.

"No, Kim, I'm not a lesbian! I mean the blonde man!" All four of them looked back to the bar at Chad.

"Oh," Kim said. Then she continued. "But you're over him right?"

"We-ell, yes. I mean it's been years. And I was in high school."

"So, it shouldn't be that awkward then right? I mean, you and I can just take a trip to the bar, order some drinks, casually bump into them, get reacquainted and then you can introduce me to the Brit."

"I don't know, Kim…" But before Jen could really build up her defense, Kim had dragged her off of her chair and toward to bar.

"You can hurt me later Jen," Kim laughed as they squeezed to the bar near Will, Chad, and Caroline. She was definitely calling Evee tonight.

Jen ordered a sex on the beach while Kim ordered an appletini.

"So are you going to do it, or are you going to chicken out on me, lowly sophomore?"

"I'll have you know, that I am no longer a sophomore."

"Whatever, you going to introduce me or am I going to have to make a fool out of myself?"

Jen glared at Kim before turning around. Thankfully she saw another friend of hers standing next to the party. "Ok, here's the plan, we'll go say hi to Alexander, he works in the library with me, remember? Then we can say hi to Will and co. After that I will be leaving you to fend for yourself but please, if you leave with him, don't tell me about his bedroom voice later. One of my sisters sort of had a fling with him and I really don't need to know."

"Sure thing."

So, Jen grabbed her drink and clicked her way over to Alexander in the strappy silver heels she was wearing. The outfit was certainly a consolation. At least she wouldn't be seeing Chad in her sweats like the last time they had run into each other at the grocery store.

"Jen!"

"Hey Alexander! I didn't know you were staying for the summer!"

"Yeah well, summer school, but I refuse to think about it right now. Are you going anywhere after this?"

"No, you know me, I'm not much into clubbing. You?"

"Yeah, the new place down Franklin. I hear it's awesome. You sure you don't want to come? You could be sexy librarian or something. We'll just give you Patrick's glasses."

Jen laughed. She normally didn't respond to this sort of thing, but it was just too easy to laugh with Alexander. He always made her feel a little more daring. In fact, they had gone out on a couple of dates but just decided to stay friends.

"No thanks. Who all are you going with?"

"Patrick, Mike, and Chuck. Who are you here with?"

"You remember Kim?" Alexander smiled at her. "And Hannah and Maggie. Actually, Kim wanted to meet someone that I should be introducing her to."

"Well, see you around. Take it easy."

"Back at you." Jen turned around and bumped into someone. "Oh sorry." Kim cleared her throat and Jen looked back at her confused only to see her friend raise her eyebrows. "What? Oh, hi Will!" Jen mentally kicked herself. What a great way to reintroduce herself. Nothing like almost knocking them down.

"Hey Jen. How are you?"

"Great." Was that really all she could say? Before she could think of anything else though, Will spoke again.

"Do you go to school here?"

"Yeah actually, I do." Will's eyes flicked over her shoulder. "This is actually one of my friends, Kim. She just graduated." Will nodded politely before looking back at Jen.

"Any of your sisters with you?"

Jen raised her eyebrows and smirked a little at Kim's huff behind her shoulder. She wasn't enjoying being simply nodded at. "No, none of them go to school here, though Evee is nearby. She's at Duke actually."

"Ah, a house divided I understand."

"Well, as much as it can be with me and Evee," Jen smiled genuinely. Will was being much more open and friendly than she had remembered.

"Who are you talking to Will?" Chad's voice came from behind the British man.

Jen gulped and smiled brighter as Will said without looking away from her, "Jennifer Singleton and a friend of hers, Kim." Jen could almost feel Kim brighten as Will said her name in his oh-so-sexy British accent.

"Hi Jen! How've you been? I feel like we haven't seen you in ages." Jen felt confused. Well, hadn't he not wanted to see her after she'd basically made a fool of herself in London? Jen heard Kim talking to Will and steering him away, and almost laughed at the thought—Will wouldn't know what hit him. "Do want to get out of here?"

Had she heard him right? Surely not.

"Come again? I think I may have finally gone deaf." Chad laughed. He had always teased her about not really being able to hear that well. She smiled. Well at least she was making him laugh.

"Do you want to get out of here? Go for a walk and catch up?" Jen stared at him for a moment. He was really serious, she decided. If she told Evee about this and she didn't go with him, Evee would be sure to smack her, so she took what she assumed would have been her favorite sister's advice.

"Sure, let me just go tell my friends."

"I'll be right here."

"Ok." Jen smiled and made her way to her table.

"Looks like it didn't end THAT badly if you ask me," Hannah said when Jen told them.

"Guess not," Jen smiled. "I'll see you guys later. Congratulations again!"

The two remaining girls waved her off and she went back to Chad.

"Ready?"

"Sure thing."

He grinned and this time, she thought optimistically that this one was her grin.


End file.
